An Armored Whole
by Omega Overlord
Summary: The final chapter of the Armor series. The end is approaching, will the Chief and Samus come out of it alive? Will their relationship survive as well?


Disclaimer: I do not own any actual characters of Halo or Metroid portrayed within. If I did this would actually be a game.

Author's note: You must have read both 'Armored Emotions' and 'Cracked Armor' or you will understand none of this.

Phase 1: A private moment……or not

Samus Aran slowly slipped back into her zero suit, breathing heavily. She thought she had had a lot of stamina. But once again John had surpassed her in another category. To be honest with herself, she really couldn't remember most of the details of what they had just done together, but what she did remember she filed away among her most treasured memories.

She leaned back against the wall of her ship and watched John finish putting his armor back on, "We really should make a date for when we do this again."

John let out a short laugh, "Like we're ever going to have the time."

She sighed, John was right. The instant her ship arrived back at Earth there would be some other crisis that John and she would have to solve. As she left her sleeping chamber she found herself wondering what it was going to be this time. Dark Samus wasn't an enemy any longer, the Galactic Federation was almost completely destroyed, the brute/Space Pirate covenant had been mostly beaten back… it would probably be the latter. The Space Pirates had a grudge against her and the brutes bore a grudge against John. They would probably attack even if there was no possibility of victory. Before she met John she would have been pleased; in a sad, despondent kind of way. But now she just wished they would all crawl into a hole in the universe and stay there.

She tapped the ship's computer screen to wake it, "Adam? You awake?"

There was no response.

John's voice came from behind her, "Didn't you turn him off?"

She shook her head at her lapse in memory, "Right… thanks."

John nodded and leaned back against the bulkhead while she worked to put Adam back online. Now she remembered that she had turned the computer off just so he wouldn't record anything, audio or otherwise.

The computer slowly re-activated, "…Well, I trust the both of you had a good time?"

She felt her face flush, "…Yes."

Adam let out something that sounded almost like a chuckle, "Glad to hear it. Now what can I do for you Lady?"

She responded, "How much longer till we arrive at Earth?"

There was a pause as Adam calculated, "… about twenty seconds. You two finished up just in time."

She activated her power suit and slipped the helmet on to cover her blush. Would Adam just stop mentioning it in such a cavalier manner?

The computer counted down, "Three… Two… One… and we have arrived. Shall I make for the 'Spirit of Fire'?"

She looked out into the void at the large ship that so many recent events had focused around, "…Please do."

She leaned back in the pilot's chair, thinking about what possible antics Wallace had gotten himself into with her twin while John and she were gone…

Adam spoke up, "Lady, there is an urgent message from the Spirit. I'm patching them through now."

She muttered to herself, "Figures…"

The voice that came through was undoubtedly a marine, "Chief? You there?"

John spoke, "This is Spartan 117. What's the problem?"

The marine sounded relieved, "Great… Chief, you think you could get into the hanger and deal with your giant, blue pet?"

John replied automatically, "Understood, I'll be there." After he cut off the com line, "… I have a bad feeling that we misjudged Sam's gender."

She sighed, "It sounds like it doesn't it?" she spoke to Adam, "Make for the hanger."

The computer replies sarcastically, "As if I would go anywhere else."

The moment Samus's ship touched down in the hanger John sprinted out of the hatch into the brightness of floodlights. Over in a corner of the hanger… Sam had taken over the cleaned out hulk of a pre-fab base… and sticking out… was the head of a queen metroid. Sam's head was barely protruding from the hatch to lower levels, protectively sweeping back and forth, eyeing the marines warily, like a cornered animal.

He stepped forward slowly, "Sam?"

The giant metroid extended its head slightly, as if excited to see him. Then quickly withdrew into the hatch. Obviously he… she was protecting something.

Samus opened a com line with him, "Sam's probably got her first clutch of eggs down in there. You're the only one here she trusts enough to let you get close."

He replied, "I realize that, just not sure what to do when I get there."

Sam moved her head ever so slightly to the side and allowed him down into the hollowed out structure. When a marine attempted to follow, Sam snapped her jaws shut inches from the unfortunate marine's face. Needless to say the marine backed off. He walked down deeper and developed a full respect for how large Sam had become, compared to the omega phase that she had become during the final battle on the Galactic Federation homeworld she was at least three times as big and the hide was over a foot thick. No small wonder then that the mouth was the only vulnerable spot on a queen metroid. When he reached the bottom he hit the light on his helmet… there were about ten metroid eggs held close to Sam with a long spiked tail. He tapped lightly on the tail and Sam's serpentine neck brought her head down into the belly of the hollow building.

He picked up one of the eggs and pet Sam gently on the nose, "Just one for one second ok?"

A loud rumble echoed from Sam's chest for a second before the queen metroid slowly put her head back out the hatch. He slowly carried the egg up into the light.

He held the egg in one hand and spoke to the marines, "Relax, just a protective mother here."

Without waiting for the marines to say anything he walked back down and put the egg back where it had been. It was important the Sam continue to trust him… especially seeing as how it would be almost impossible to make Sam do anything she didn't want to.

As he began to walk away one of the marines stopped him, "Sir? The Captain wants to see the both of you on the bridge."

He simply gave a nod, acknowledging the order.

He opened a com line with Samus, "Cutter needs us on the bridge."

Samus sighed through the small amount of static, "…figures… I'll be right there."

He waited for a brief moment until he heard Samus's footfalls behind him before beginning the walk to the bridge. He could already guess one of the things Cutter wanted to talk about. Sam. His metroid was in a bad position: she couldn't stay in the hanger and raise her brood even if the infant metroids imprinted marines as their 'mothers'. That didn't leave many options that he could think of… and he really didn't like the possible outcomes.

Wallace waited just long enough after Samus left the hanger before nonchalantly wandering over to the bounty hunter's ship. Once there he hacked the hatch just as he had done before when he had wanted information on Dark Samus.

The moment he set foot inside the cabin Adam spoke, "back again? Shall I save time and just give you what you want?"

He replied as he made his way over to the sleeping chamber, "No need for that old chap. I got it all planned out from before Samus brought us on that mission to save the Chief."

He used a pair of tweezers to gently remove the bug he had placed on the bedroom wall.

Adam takes notice of this, "A bug? Now I see what you have planned… Tell me why I shouldn't tell the Lady that you recorded her and John together."

He carefully stored his bug before responding, "If you want those two together you will keep your metal mouth shut. I have a plan."

There was a pause, "………And what might this plan entail?"

He laughs, "Then ye WERE thinkin it you sly bastard!"

Adam maintains his dignity, "The thought had occurred to me. Also prevalent in my thoughts is the fact that you could simply hack me and erase my memory of this conversation."

He chuckles, "Practical AND a co-conspirator… I think I'm startin to like you."

Adam puts on a sarcastic tone, "Touching… Your plan?"

He had a reality check, "Right… Well, here it is. What is the next possible level their relationship could go to?"

Adam gave a sigh of exasperation, "Now do I really have to play twenty questions with you?"

He waved his hands in front of him, "Easy there, don't get your wires in a bunch. I'm planning on getting the Chief to propose."

There was a long moment of silence, "…………… brilliant. I only foresee one problem with this plan."

He put his hands on his hips, "And what might that be?"

Adam replied matter-of-factly, "I am currently monitoring the bridge and Captain Cutter wishes to send John off one way and the Lady off in the other."

He starts to laugh, "Perfect! That fits in just perfectly!"

Adam spoke in an even tone, "Really? Pray tell how them being at opposite ends of the galaxy helps your plan."

He opens the hatch to leave, "Simple, the old trick 'divide and conquer'. I work Samus over and Dark Samus does the same for the Chief."

Adam replies, in passing, "I see… just don't be too harsh to the Lady alright?"

He shut the hatch, "Sure… like I'll be anything but a gentleman. Heh heh heh."

Samus followed John out onto the bridge of the Spirit of Fire. She knew things were going to be bad for Sam but when she saw a team of scientists… her heart skipped a beat. Scientists, regardless of whom they served, had always been the ones causing problems for her. Granted that they were Space Pirate scientists but human scientists could do just as much damage if they handled the metroids in the wrong way.

Cutter looked up from the crowd of scientists, "Chief, Samus… no doubt you are aware of the current problem in our hanger?"

John remained standing tall, "Aware that Sam has laid a clutch of eggs? Yes."

One of the scientists, undoubtedly the ranking one, walked over to John and spoke in a very high-handed manner, "That is precisely why we are here. We would like you to retrieve one or more of those eggs for us to study."

John inclined his head downwards to look at the head researcher, "…And what do you plan to apply that research to?"

The rest of the scientists formed up behind their leader, possibly as some kind of psych out tactic, "That is not your concern Spartan. We do our job and you do yours. End of story."

There was a knock from the hatch; she turned to see her twin, Dark Samus, leaning against the side of the hatch languidly.

Dark Samus spoke with her helmet off, "Am I interrupting anything?"

The lead scientist acquired an awful gleam in his eyes, "Ah… perfect. Madam, might we have a sample of your blood?"

Dark Samus touched her hand to her chest plate in false astonishment, "While I appreciate the 'madam', you can take that syringe and shove it up your ass."

The scientist glared at Dark Samus then turned to John, "…Spartan… restrain this woman."

John remained absolutely still.

The scientist became irate, "Are you disobeying the orders of a superior officer?"

John spoke in monotone, "I wasn't aware that you were an officer… sir." John almost appeared to deliberately hesitate before saying the honorific.

The scientist pointed to a patch on the shoulder of his lab coat, "Lieutenant Garrett Myers, mere days away from promotion. Now you will follow my orders and restrain the woman."

John opened a com line with her, "Tell Dark Samus that I'm going to hold her by the arms. When the man gets closer…"

She chuckled to herself and transmitted to her twin, "Don't panic when John grabs you by the arms. He has a plan to deal with this Garrett…"

To her credit, Dark Samus remained remarkably still as John held her in place by the arms… not to mention still from the obvious amusement she had expressed when receiving John's bright idea.

Garrett moved in with a syringe, "Now this won't hurt a bit…"

When Garrett got within range… Dark Samus's leg shot up and kicked the scientist right between the legs, and while the man was bent over Dark Samus's other foot kicked him in the face. John made a good show of 'getting the woman back under control' for appearances.

Garrett stumbled back and clutched at a broken nose, "Why you!!!"

Inside of a second Garrett pulled a pistol and had it aimed at her twin's bare head. John however, was much faster than that. Her Spartan grabbed the barrel of the pistol and squeezed, crushing the weapon and trapping the hand that held it.

John spoke, again low and monotone, "I don't think an officer has the right to execute a civilian for reacting to a needle… sir."

This time it was obvious the hesitation was deliberate. It also enraged the lieutenant.

Garrett attempted to shake the ruined pistol off of his hand… and failed, "There will be dire consequences for this, Spartan. You just wait."

Garrett then led his men off of the bridge in a very undignified manner.

Cutter waited for a few moments to make sure the lieutenant was gone, "…Sorry about that. I didn't have the authority to override his request to come aboard.

John replied, "It's fine sir."

Cutter's face darkened, "The lieutenant does have a point though. We can't have your pet raising a brood of metroids in our hanger. I know that doesn't have any attractive options but…"

Dark Samus broke in, "I have one that you probably haven't thought of."

Cutter turned to her twin, "If you have a bright idea then please share it."

Dark Samus smiled, which was still a bit creepy, "Are there any planets that you know of that people have been abandoned but still have a surviving ecosystem?"

Cutter and John both nod thoughtfully; she could see the benefits as well. If they transported Sam and the queen's brood to an uninhabited planet the metroid would be free to raise the infants without interference from human scientists. Plus, once the metroids reached a certain maturity they would be their own planetary defense. She still had not mentioned the metroid weakness to cold so… the UNSC would either have to exterminate every metroid or content themselves with observing the growth. Needless to say, Sam would be a defensive juggernaut in her own right.

Cutter spoke to the navigation officer, "Are there any planets that fit the description of…" the captain paused for a moment and turned to Dark Samus, "what exactly should I address you as?"

Her twin laughs, "Dark Samus is fine."

Cutter turns back to the nav operator, "Are there any planets that fit Dark Samus's specs?"

The nav operator started typing commands into his station, "Processing… there are two planets at the edge of UNSC space that still have an intact ecosystem… although one is sub-zero."

Dark Samus shoves the man out of the seat and takes his place, "Let's see about the one that isn't cold then…" there was a pause as Dark Samus typed in a few more commands, "Primarily underground… lava tubes… abundant life… this one looks perfect!"

John asks, "And how would you know what is a good planet for Sam?"

Dark Samus spins her chair around and sets her chin in a hand, "You want to try asking your pet?"

John turns to her, "Samus?"

She gives her honest opinion, "I think this one sounds a lot like SR388, where I went to exterminate the metroids before… It might feel close to home."

John nodded, "Good, I'll go and make some arrangements to get a transport ship."

She turns to follow John but Cutter stops her, "Samus, if it's alright I would like to ask something of you."

She replies, "That would depend on what you intend to ask."

Cutter walks over to the holo platform in the center of the bridge, "Serina, pull it up." After the ship's AI complies, "The remaining Galactic Federation troops and leaders have taken refuge on this large moon on the far side of the galaxy. We are currently coordinating with the elites to launch a full-scale attack on the remnants."

A slight moment of confusion passes over her, "Then why do you need me?"

Cutter grimaces, "They demand your presence on the battlefield and… they have hostages."

The hologram shifted to what was obviously a message intended for her. A formerly regal man was holding an energy pistol to the head of a humanoid, bird-like creature.

One word came out of her mouth, "…Chozo…"

Phase 2: Separation

Part 1: Disturbing Implications

John couldn't quite pin down what was wrong with Samus. After the hologram she had gone back to a semblance of the attitude she had had before they had fallen for each other, silent and brooding. Clearly that bird-like alien, or 'Chozo' as Samus had called it, meant a great deal to her. He knew very little about the Chozo, what little he did know was only from a vague reference in one of the logs that Valor had taken from Samus's suit. They had apparently taken her in after the murder of her parents and built the power suit for her… other than that he knew nothing. Regardless, Samus had quickly agreed to go with the Spirit of Fire to the GF resistance's final stand, leaving him to cart Sam to a distant planet with only a skeleton crew for the tanker-class cruiser they had requisitioned, a small squad of ODST marines... and Dark Samus for company. Samus had not bothered to explain to him why her semi-powered phazon-born twin was coming along.

Samus's last words on the subject had been, 'she'll know if Sam likes the planet or not.' Before she ran back to her ship… there wasn't even a 'good luck' from either of them. He knew Samus would come out unscathed and Samus knew the same about him but still… it was odd.

The civilian at the navigation station got his attention, "Sir? We're ready to depart."

He indicated his own readiness with a nod of his head. The civilians had, at first, reacted with awe to his presence… but now he thought that they were rather afraid of him. Typical reaction for those that only knew of his 'legendary' status as the killer of millions. He turned around from the bridge and slowly meandered his way down to the… room… that he had been given, if one could call it that. It made the quarters he had had back on the Spirit of Fire seem spacious. Not to mention the fact that the ship was not built for someone of his height… why was he complaining??? He guessed it was because he felt that he could be doing something more useful, like helping Samus destroy the remains of the Galactic Federation.

In the troop quarters the few marines onboard were doing what they could to pass the time on their one-week trip (the freighter had no cryo-storage). Some were playing cards, some were rolling dice… but there was a specific group that was chatting, or attempting to chat, with Dark Samus. Somewhere (probably a gift from Wallace) Dark Samus had acquired civilian clothing and this only exacerbated the 'problem' of distracting the marines. Well… the single ones anyway… He tried to keep his interactions with Dark Samus to a minimum, if for the sole purpose of remaining professional. Dark Samus had a certain edge to her that Samus didn't, a certain lack of decent conduct. In other words… Dark Samus just wasn't his type. The marines that hadn't been aboard the Spirit of Fire seemed confused by his lack of interest, hearing only of his 'relationship with a 'smoking hot girl'. They seemed to think that Dark Samus was his girl, which was funny in an odd way. Dark Samus laughed at something one of the marines said and shot him a wink… and in another way it was insanely annoying.

One of the marines called over to him, "Oy! Chief!"

He looked over at the marine, "Yeah?"

The marine gestured to one of the ammo crates that they were using as seats, "Come on over. Mingle a little bit."

He looked up at the clock. It had only been three hours since the trip had begun. He walked over and took a seat.

The marine starts dealing cards, "So Chief, you ever played poker?"

He picked up the five cards, "No."

The marine then gives him a quick explanation of the rules, "Got it?"

He looks at his cards, "…I'll figure it out."

From what he could tell… he didn't know if he had anything. He had two cards with one symbol on them and three other cards with eight symbols each.

The marine on his right tossed two small disks into the center of the table, "Open."

Two marines with nothing in front of them just sat and watched as it moved to the marine that had invited him over, that one smirked and shoved all of the objects in front of him out into the center, "All in."

The eyes of the entire table turned to him. Now what? He didn't know if he should toss his cards in defeat or up the ante… He really didn't even want to be at the table.

He shoved all of the 'chips' he had been given into the middle, "All in."

The first one to go did the exact same thing.

The marine that had invited him slapped his cards down onto the table, "Read em and weep! Three jacks!"

The one to his right moaned and fell to the table. He looked at his hand for a moment and set the cards on the table. Silence fell…

The inviting marine spoke slowly, "Chief… Aces and Eights…"

He looked around before asking, "Does that have any special significance?"

All the marines said, at the same time, "It's the dead man's hand. You're supposed to die soon."

He stood and walked into his room, talking as he walked, "That's what people keep telling me."

He lay down on his bunk and promptly fell asleep. After an unknown time asleep a soft noise woke him, reflexively aiming a pistol at the source of the noise… Dark Samus.

Dark Samus put her hands in the air, "Easy… If I had known you were this jumpy I would have left a long time ago."

He holstered the weapon, "…What do you want?"

Dark Samus sat down on a pile of objects that he had stacked to create enough room for his giant frame, "Some semblance of privacy. If I'm in here, none of the marines will have the guts to come barging in."

He crossed his arms, "And if _I_ don't happen to want you in here…?"

Dark Samus pulled a small data chip out of a pocket on her blouse, "I could always just show this to the marines."

He snatched the chip out of Dark Samus's hand and slid it into the jack on the back of his helmet. The picture quality was bad… and night vision was set on. But he saw a blond ponytail and his own, paper white skin.

He tore the chip out and held it up accusingly, "Where did you get this?"

Dark Samus remained silent. He crushed the chip into powder.

Dark Samus smirked, "Don't worry. I have a spare."

He struggled to say the words, "…… Fine… you can stay in here."

As Dark Samus began to move towards the cot, he stood and took a seat on the floor.

He shot Dark Samus a look, "Don't get any ideas."

Dark Samus takes the cot, "Oh, I wouldn't be that mean to a gentleman like you."

He snorted out a short laugh before dropping his head to his chest and going back to sleep.

Part 1a: Fragmented Past

Samus felt bad about leaving John to go off on his "mission" without knowing why she had clammed up all of a sudden… but that would have to wait until after she had gotten back from this raid. The remaining Federation troops had used the remains of a Chozo temple as their base, hence the reason the UNSC had called her in. She knew Chozo architecture like the back of her hand. Cutter had made it clear that she wasn't officially in command of this raid but the marines… well, they didn't object. Especially considering that Wallace was also along for the ride, as were about thirty or so Elites under command of the Arbiter. The leader of the Elites had presented a very sensible plan, considering the fact that none of them, her included, knew the exact layout of the temple that they would be storming.

Wallace tapped the back of her helmet, "Lassie! The troops have set the breaching charge. We need to clear out."

She would have just shot the hatch open but… if they needed reinforcements it would take quite a few bullets to puncture the energy cover on the Chozo hatch. She ducked around the corner of the building along with the marines and waited for the demolitionist to blow the charge.

The marine yelled, "Fire in the hole!"

There was a muffled explosion and a large cloud of dust… but the door was still intact, which was ok, considering that it was the wall beside the hatch, and not the hatch itself that the blast charge had been attached to. It almost hurt, to destroy Chozo stone work like that, but she had a more important job in mind. The marines could handle the Federation troops, what she was after was the Chozo hostage that the holo recording had shown her, and damned was anything that got in her way. Wallace hefted a flamethrower and sprayed a jet of fire through the opening on both sides, incinerating both of the Federation troopers that were lying in wait. She watched the flow of flame for a moment… not liking how quickly it melted the Federation body armor.

She got Wallace's attention, "Keep the fire away from me, got it?"

The pirate laughed, "Sure thing lassie, would be a mighty shame to burn your ass."

She shook her head while walking away. Was that guy EVER serious? She watched the marines fan out and take positions around the pillars and corners, pausing to note the fact that every marine was using the same weapon that John had used aboard the Federation space station. She didn't know quite what the ballistic weapon was called (she never bothered to ask) but she knew the perks it had after seeing John use one with such devastating results, speed and precision. She was fortunate in the fact that she had a much larger target area when aiming her laser at Federation troops.

Wallace opened a com line with her, "Going off to save your feathered friend?"

She replied, "Of course. I told you that on the ride down."

Wallace chuckled, "I'll be sure to let you know if anything happens that you need to know about. Be careful alright? John would kill me if you didn't come back from this."

She smiled, shot open a hatch, and walked off into the temple alone. It gave her a nice feeling, to know that someone wanted her to get back alive. Her former employers had always wanted her back… but for different reasons. The Federation had only cared so far as that she was a military asset, a tool.

She paused for a moment to consider her options to proceed. If she could find the temple's map chamber… she stumbled for a moment as a weak bought of nausea struck her. What was that? She dismissed it as an aftereffect of the pelican ride down (she still wasn't used to the lurch yet).

She decided on a hatch up high and to the right. In other words, the hardest one to get to. Her logic process figured that the Chozo would be in the highest security section of the ruins possible. Likely, so would the Federation leadership. So she could… she hated this metaphor… kill two birds with one stone. Being raised by the bird-like Chozo tended to do that.

The com began to erupt with gunfire, apparently Wallace and his small squad had found some of the Federation troops.

Wallace spoke to her, "Careful lassie, they wait until you've passed a few of them before they start shooting. Catch you in a crossfire."

She sighed, "I hear you Wallace. No need to let me know."

Wallace shot back, "Oh? Why might that be?"

She watched her suit's radar light up, "I've already run into that problem."

From behind the pillars about seventy Federation troopers started shooting. While one on its own was no threat at all and did one point of damage to her shields… seventy of them hitting her with numerous shots racked up quiet an impressive damage tally. She began to run for the far side of the hall, there were stairs up to the level from where the troopers were shooting at her. When she mounted the top of the stairs she was missing only about two full tanks of shielding. She pretty much walked right up to each trooper and shot each one, point blank, with a missile. She WOULD have been low on missiles after that shooting spree, but luckily for her there had been several missile troopers mixed in amongst the regular rifle wielding troops. That finished she turned back to the hatch at the end of the room… it was a seeker missile lock. Highest security she had seen so far. Apparently she was going in the right direction. She blew through the lock and walked through into a bloodbath. The corpses of Federation troops littered the entire chamber… and all were ripped into dozens of pieces. It was so bad that the smell filtered through her air scrubber, causing her to gag. Standing in the middle of the carnage was a Chozo war golem… and it was active. The red, stone eyes slowly turned toward her… and the machine began a slow, implacable march towards her. She backpedaled quickly, shooting for the knees of the giant machine, hoping to slow the golem in some way. She remembered fighting one of these during her training… it had destroyed her. It had an anti-hack/scan program hard-wired into the center of a solid block of steel in the core, not to mention the copious amounts of powerful, ranged weaponry available to it. The loads could vary; she remembered that the one she had fought was armed with twin beam cannons in each wrist… and a battery of homing rockets. Ignoring the obvious danger of two giant stone fists crushing her. She could outrun the machine but… with the doors sealed there wasn't much of a point. About thirty yards away the mouth of the golem dropped down and a gun barrel stuck out.

She shouted as she threw herself to the side, "Damn!!!"

A particle beam cannon obliterated all the stone for about thirty feet into the ground. This was obviously a leftover security machine that had lost the programming that made it avert from harming the structure around it. As she dove she shot a flurry of energy bolts at the protruding cannon barrel, the mouth flipped up and blocked the shots. The machine raised its left foot into the air… she reflexively jumped over the shockwave, but failed to dodge the missile that the machine shot at the same time. She had forgotten that this was a WAR golem, not a training device. It was programmed to kill and it would do so without any regards to fair play. The mouth of the golem flipped down again and the cannon stuck forth. She was on her back so there would be no dodging this time.

She thought to herself, 'This is going to hurt…' and closed her eyes in anticipation.

There was a muffled "whumph" that reverberated through the ruins. Accompanying this there was a wave of electrical interference. She climbed to her feet and re-booted her suit to clear the system glitches.

A video window opened in the top-right corner of her HUD, in that window there was a girl with red irises and long, pink hair… Toa, "Miss Aran? You ok?"

She shot a glance over to the motionless war golem, "…Yeah, I'm fine. What just happened?"

Toa gave a sigh of relief, "The ship just hit the ruins with and EMP. Jin made it."

Jin would be her fiancé… or was it husband now?

She blew down the bare steel hatch, "Brilliant… wait. Why is your hair still long? Doesn't the UNSC have rules about the length of hair?"

Toa blushed, her entire face, all the way down her neck, visible even through the v-neck of her shirt, "Ahhh……… I really didn't enlist in the UNSC…"

She paused for a moment, "…Wallace's crew." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

The girl laughed uneasily, "Yeah."

She sighed, "Well…Wallace certainly has the charisma. Since you still have long hair… think you could find the time to teach me how you kept your hair in order after shoving it up inside a helmet for hours on end?"

Toa nodded excitedly, "Of course! It would be an honor!"

The girl gave her a cheerful little wave and severed the connection. She just rolled her eyes and moved on. She had honestly meant what she had asked the young woman, envy was not something she felt often. For some reason she felt much more calm than usual…

Past the war golem there was a small hole in the wall. She smiled at her good luck and engaged the morph ball. She felt a thud and dropped down a good ten feet. After disengaging the morph ball she leaned back against a pillar and listened. There was the voice of an old man… and the deep, sonorous voice of a Chozo.

The old man was interrogating the Chozo… unsuccessfully, "Tell me!!! Tell me how to shut down Samus's suit!!!"

There was only silence from the old alien. She heard many sounds of impacts… she couldn't take it anymore, so she sprinted out from behind the pillar and shot the old man before he could hit the Chozo anymore. She looked around… she had just killed the old man in front of about one-hundred Federation troopers.

She put her hands up and opened a video link to Toa; she spoke softly, "Toa?"

The girl picked up on the hint and spoke softly, "Yes Miss Aran?"

She cautiously backed towards the downed Chozo, "Is there an EMP ready?"

Toa nodded, "You want it dropped now?"

She cast a glance at the array of weaponry aimed ah her, "…Yeah… now would be good."

The instant she felt the EMP hit the ruins she grabbed the hand of the Chozo and dragged it behind a pillar. Once she had rebooted her suit she cut down the troopers before their own armor suits could recover, draining the rest of her missiles in one huge burst.

She turned to the alien, "Are you alright?"

A ragged breath burst forth from the bird's throat, "Peace Hatchling… I am dying. I was when the human sent the message."

A familiar sense of loss filled her heart, "…No… you're the last…"

The old Chozo nodded, "Yes Hatchling, I am. And when I die this temple will collapse upon itself. A grave for all the Chozo that have been laid to rest here."

She closed her eyes and set her helmet against the stone of the wall, "…Why? Why must all Chozo be dead?"

The old one set a comforting hand on her head, "Think not of it as death. Think of it as our reward for long lives lived, and good deeds done. We endured for a long time Hatchling, but nothing can last forever."

She stood slowly, "…How long?"

The bird limped over to a ruined altar and knelt before it, "You have ten minuets."

She hesitated for a few moments, and opened a broad-range connection, "…All UNSC marines… evacuate the ruins immediately."

She ran… but time seemed to flow slowly. She knew that the last vestiges of the Chozo were about to be erased from the universe forever. As she ran through the first chamber that Wallace had led his troops through her boot kicked against a small data chip, she picked it up and looked at it for a moment… then tossed it. Whoever had lost it was just going to be out of luck when they figured it out. She didn't feel like playing someone's mother.

Part 2: Planetfall

John began to re-assemble his assault rifle, jamming the firing pin due to irritation. For the past week Dark Samus had used the video as blackmail to allow her unrestricted time "hanging around". From the way the marines on the ship threw jealous glances his way he could surmise that Dark Samus's "plan" had worked. They weren't hitting on her anymore. As irritating as that had been he would take that over posing as Dark Samus's boyfriend any day. He carefully slid the firing pin in to right the weapon… perfect.

He let out a loud sigh, "Why did that stupid pirate have to record that stupid video?"

A now hated voice came from his door, "When did you figure it out?"

He didn't even bother to turn his head, "That Wallace is the one who recorded it? Almost right away. He and you are the only ones that would have the guts to do it and the insanity to actually pull it off. Then I remembered that you have never actually been on board Samus's ship. That left only Wallace."

Dark Samus sounded nervous, "Well… what are you going to do when we get back?"

He slowly turned around, repressed rage filling his voice, "You lost it… Didn't you?"

Dark Samus backed away as he stood up, "…Yes…"

He put one of his hands all the way around her neck, pinning her to the wall, not even noticing that his shields took a hit, but he did not squeeze… yet, "Do you have any idea what will happen if one of the marines find that?!? It will be copied a million times and distributed around the entire damn UNSC!!!"

Before Dark Samus could reply the entire ship shook.

He threw Dark Samus aside and put his fingers to the side of his helmet, opening a com line to the bridge, "Report!"

The civilian sounded panicked, "Sir, there is a sliver ship out there and it's shooting at us!!!"

He gave his orders as he opened the hatch and rushed to the armory, "release the drop pod towards the planet and take evasive action!"

He felt bad for dropping Sam off on the planet so roughly, but he really didn't have any other options at the moment.

He barged into the makeshift barracks, "Marines!!! Ready up! We have company!"

The marines shouted together, "Oorah!" And rushed for the armory.

He grabbed the first weapon he laid his eyes on, which happened to be a Spartan Laser. The instant his hand closed around the grip of the weapon a large claw slashed through the side of the freighter, cutting all the way into the room he was in. The decompression tore him out of the ship and into the void. He grabbed onto the jagged edge of the hull just before being lost to the infinite void, and flying around the freighter… it was the same damn dragon that he and Samus had killed on Earth. Samus had been right, this thing refused to stay dead. All the air vented itself into space so he was able to crawl along the exterior of the freighter, hopefully he could get a clear shot at Ridly's chest plate and kill it before it could do any more damage to… Ridly tore through the bridge of the freighter, killing the entire civilian crew.

The marines opened a com line as the power failed on the freighter, "Sir. The ship is dead in space, what do we do?"

Apparently Ridly heard the com chatter because the dragon made a 180 degree turn and swooped back towards him.

He ignored the incoming dragon and spoke to the marines, "Make for the hanger and load everything you can into the pelican. That planet has a breathable atmosphere so make for it."

He hesitated… but eventually called Dark Samus, "If you can hear me, head for the hanger along with the marines. They might need your support."

Dark Samus replied as Ridly grabbed him in a claw, "No shit!"

A smirk twisted his face as he pried himself out of Ridly's grip, "Glad to be back to this kind of a relationship."

He clawed his way along Ridly's arm, up onto the dragon's back. When he started to climb Ridly's neck the dragon started to pitch and roll in attempts to shake him off… to no avail.

He settled in, right behind Ridly's head, and stuck the business end of the Spartan Laser against the back of Ridly's dome, "Heel."

The dragon stopped dead in the void, the rage of the cornered beast was felt, not heard.

He grabbed one of Ridly's horns and pulled the horn in the direction of the ruined freighter, "Move."

The dragon slowly began to make its way closer to the freighter.

He spoke over the com, "Marines, change of plans. We're going to pirate the Pirate ship."

He forced Ridly to pry the hanger doors open. When the doors were fully open, Dark Samus floated out and took a seat on Ridly's neck. Right behind him.

He turned and spoke without the com, "What are you doing?"

Dark Samus's visor flared, "I'm going to try and hack the dragon's brain. That way you don't have to hold a laser to his head to make him do what you want."

He smiled beneath his helmet; it really was much better when Dark Samus acted like she was supposed to. Dark Samus pried off a small section of Ridly's armor and stuck her hand to the side of her helmet, at the same time the color of the visor became green. He had seen Samus do the same thing occasionally… something called a scan visor or something. After a few seconds Ridly stopped moving for a moment.

Dark Samus got his attention, "You're going to have to direct him now. I had to wipe his entire brain."

He slung the Spartan Laser and grabbed both of Ridly's horns, knowing he wouldn't need to use any of the Laser's valuable energy. He directed Ridly to pry open the hanger doors on the Space Pirate ship.

He called the marines, "Doors open marines. Let's see if anyone is home."

The doors remained open just long enough after the pelican flew in for Ridly to push his bulk in after it.

He slid down the back of Ridly's spine, taking Dark Samus along for the ride, "Alright marines. We take the bridge and this ship is ours. I want two of you to stay here and protect the pelican."

While the marines debated amongst themselves who would get stuck with guard duty he deposited the Spartan Laser on the pelican, taking his usual weapon load. An MA5C assault rifle and a shotgun for close combat.

There was a cry of disgust from one of the marines; it would appear that a brain-dead dragon didn't know to keep its mouth shut. Ridly had just drooled on the marine. He shot a glance over at Dark Samus and mimed closing a mouth. Dark Samus got the message and made Ridly lie down, curled up, with its mouth shut. He waved forward Dark Samus and the marines, when they had all stacked up around the one exit to the hanger he kicked the hatch open. The flying slab of metal pulped one of the scaly aliens into purple mush against the far wall. Using quick, controlled bursts he put several rounds in each Space Pirate's head.

He stomped on a crawling alien and turned around, "Dark Samus, we're following your lead."

Dark Samus took her helmet off and gave him a bemused look, "What makes you think I know where I'm going?"

With all the recent events he had to work VERY hard to not smash Dark Samus's head against the bulkhead, "You used to lead them. You should know your way around one of their frigates."

Dark Samus stuck her helmet back on and shrugged, "I never rode in one… knowingly. But I can figure the layout out pretty quick."

He stepped aside and gestured to the holographic console on the wall behind him, "Well get cracking. Marines, defensive positions."

About three minutes passed in silence, save for the occasional odd beep or ping from the hologram.

There was a loud crackle of electricity and the hallway went dark.

He shot a glare over his shoulder at Dark Samus, "What did you do now?"

Dark Samus got defensive, "I didn't do anything. THEY shut down their entire system to stop me from hacking in… Oh, by the way… that also means that the air will be drained in oh I don't know… fifteen minutes."

He turned and gave Dark Samus a look, "They would all commit suicide just to take us out?"

Dark Samus shook her head, "Yes and no… Space Pirates need much less air to survive than humans. They would live a good ten minutes after the marines are dead, but they are a genocidal race by standards."

He shook his head and muttered, "Comforting."

The marines shot back to him, "Sir? Orders?"

He made a few quick decisions, "Marines, stack up and go aft. I'm going forward. Dark Samus… you are waiting here for either of us to give you a call. When you get called I'm expecting you to sprint your own legs off to get where we need you. Am I clear?"

Dark Samus caught the slight note of menace he put in, just for her, "Crystal…"

He shoved a full clip into his assault rifle, "Good."

He began to make his way to the front of the ship after sending the marines off to the rear. Given his 'luck' he would be heading towards the bridge. He was sincerely hoping that every Space Pirate on the ship was waiting for him; he was starting to relate to how much Samus hated these scaly aliens.

He rounded a corner in the hallway; three of the Pirates were waiting for him. The one in the middle let out a guttural cry and sprang back, laser rounds scattering around. The other two were charging him with two wickedly curved blades. When the first one entered his reach he grabbed the alien by the elbow (or whatever it was that they had) and twisted it around to block the blade from the other Pirate. He then pushed the barrel of his shotgun THROUGH the belly of his shield and blasted the other one point-blank. Quickly, he slung the shotgun and pulled off a few quick shots at the Pirate shooting back at him. One of his bullets grazed the side of the Pirate's face but the alien fled around the next corner before he could land a clean headshot. Something in his gut told him that the specific Pirate he had just missed would make itself into a major nuisance…

The marines called him over the com, "Chief, we just hit the engine room. No way in hell are we going the right way."

He paused and used the opportunity to feed shells into his shotgun, "Keep going that way and kill anything that shoots back. Any wounded?"

The marine on the line paused, probably to check on the other ODST's, "…No sir. I got nicked by one of those laser shots but it only stung for a few seconds. Don't see why your girlfriend thinks that these things are so dangerous."

He kicked through a deactivated hatch, "Why don't you ask her?"

He wondered if the marine would actually have the guts to ask. One of the rumors that he had heard the ODST's talking about was that Samus had a very bad temper… He had never seen it himself but… she might.

To his surprise the ODST actually did ask, but he asked the wrong woman, "So how about it senorita? Why are these 'Space Pirates' so dangerous?"

On an impulse he stuck his shotgun around the corner and pulled the trigger, there was a wet sounding explosion and the sound of a body falling to the deck. He thought, 'Wonder if she's actually going to answer honestly.'

To his considerable surprise, Dark Samus answered truthfully, "Look… If you want the honest answer why Samus hates the Space Pirates, you are going to have to ask her."

He laughed to himself as he listened to the conversation between a vexed Dark Samus, and four virile ODST's. It took a few minutes before Dark Samus dropped the hint that she was already involved with Wallace Green, a human pirate with certain psychotic tendencies. By that time he had worked his way through the warren of hallways until he stood just outside of a large blast door.

He sent Dark Samus a call, "Found the bridge. Get over here now."

He looked over the massive slab of steel for a moment… how exactly was he going to bust through this one? There was a small, holographic panel next to the hatch that was still functioning; maybe he should wait for Dark Samus to arrive… the air counter in his HUD hit three minutes. His free hand hovered just over the holographic panel… and hesitantly pressed three of the alien symbols in quick succession. With all the experience he had had with Covenant and Forerunner tech he felt reasonably sure that he had a good chance of at least getting something moving.

The locks at the corners of the hatch spun in place for a moment… then they opened!!! As the slab of steel began its interminably long journey upwards he pulled the pins on two of his remaining frag grenades and rolled them both under the door. There was an indiscernible number of roars from the trapped Space Pirates before both grenades detonated. A chunk of bloody flesh was propelled under the door, stopping against his boot. He dropped to one knee and took a quick look around the interior of the bridge, pausing for only a moment to appreciate the amount of carnage that a pair of frag grenades could cause.

There was a loud thud on the steel behind him, he whirled around, there was a Space Pirate blade descending fast towards his head. With no other attractive options available he raised his assault rifle to block the blade. The strike bit deep into his weapon, effectively rendering his assault rifle useless for anything other than a bludgeon. The alien face inches from his own had a line of blood oozing down the side… it was the Pirate he had wounded moments before. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a second blade, this one made out of orange energy, rising quickly towards his face. He twisted the assault rifle to the side and kicked the Pirate in the torso. The Pirate stumbled back, but did not appear injured. He went for his shotgun and started to raise it… a burst of blue energy blasts shot forth from where the energy blade had been moments before. Unlike before, when the shooting had been scattered and erratic, this shooting was precise and lethal. Nine out of the ten shots hit his shotgun, melting the breach and the barrel. Not taking the time to be astonished he threw the useless hunk of metal at the Pirate and scooped up the corpse of a fallen Pirate to absorb the next volley of shots. His corpse shield took a few more hits and disintegrated, he dove behind a ruined bank of computers and took stock of his options… there was a wounded, but still alive Pirate sitting right next to him behind the computers, holding a clawed hand to a wound in its side. There was a pause as he looked the Pirate in the eyes and the alien did the same… his fist shot out and caved in the side of the Pirate's head. Possibly as some kind of dying reflex the Pirate squeezed off a few shots from its laser at the far wall.

He took a moment to examine the weapon; it was little more than an armored glove with a laser emitter mounted on crude steel braces. He tore the laser off of the Pirate's arm and slid the glove onto his right arm. It might not be very powerful but it was something. His armor automatically interacted with the laser, giving him a targeting reticule in his HUD, a very small one to his surprise. He looked up towards the section of his HUD that tracked battery charge… he saw the symbol for infinity. Sure that there was some catch he pulled off a few shots blindly over the rack of computers, sure enough the temperature quickly maxed out, but not quite as quickly as he had expected. He attempted to manipulate his hand as he usually would and was pleased to find that the laser did not affect his movement in any way.

As ready as he was going to be he stood from cover and looked over to the Space Pirate. The alien gave him what amounted to a grin and activated an orange barrier shield and the energy blade from before. It roared out some kind of challenge and charged with the shield in front.

He shot a few laser bolts at the shield, they all deflected off wildly. It was like shooting bullets at a Jackal shield, just worse. The Pirate stopped short and swung the shield at him; he stopped the energy barrier with his left and swung his right at the Pirate's head. The alien ducked the punch and thrust the blade toward his midsection. He ducked under the Pirate's entire arm and slipped around behind the creature. He grabbed the Pirate by the back of the head and the base of its back, lifting the Pirate into the air for a moment before smashing it down over his shoulder.

There were loud footsteps from the hallway, Dark Samus sprinted into the bridge. The woman paused for a moment to look at the corpse of the Pirate he had just killed, "Guess you've become acquainted with the commandos."

He scavenged the commando's shield and blade, attaching both of the energy attachments to his left arm, "Absolutely charming… now fix the atmosphere."

He crouched behind the orange shield like he had seen Jackals do, and covered Dark Samus as she hacked the atmosphere controls.

Dark Samus took her helmet off and wiped her brow with a sigh of relief, "Well that's done…"

He cut Dark Samus off, "Are there some kind of sensors you can use to find the rest of the Space Pirates?"

Dark Samus turned and shot him a glare, "I was getting to that. I can even use the atmospheric controls and security locks to suffocate them."

He quickly contacted the ODST's, "Marines, lock yourselves in a room on the double. We're going to take them all out in one shot."

After getting the confirmation signal from the marines he gave Dark Samus the 'go ahead'. Dark Samus started the process, even going so far as to bring up a live video feed of the apparent barracks.

He watched a small smirk twist Dark Samus's face, and found himself commenting, "You seem to be enjoying yourself."

Dark Samus shot him a coy look over her shoulder (no mean feat), "Of course, killing is a form of art. Don't you agree?"

He paused for a moment before responding, "…Not really."

Dark Samus turned around to face him, "Really? Popping the enemies' head off every time isn't rather artful?"

He scowled inside his helmet, "It saves bullets."

Dark Samus shrugged and turned back to the holographic console, starting to type on a few of the keys, "Whatever you say."

He looked up at the hologram of the ship to check on the progress of the marines towards the bridge, they were about half way back from the tail end.

A few minutes later Dark Samus was still hitting keys, so he asked, "There something you're trying to accomplish?"

Dark Samus was getting back to a semblance of her attitude before the Pirate attack, "I'm trying to find the name of the ship. Feels odd being on a ship and not knowing the name, you know?"

He deactivated the shield on his arm, relatively sure that there was no immediate danger, "…Right… I'm going planetside to make sure Sam got down safely."

As he started to leave Dark Samus shouted, "Give me a call when you get close so I can open the hanger, alright?"

When he walked into the hanger Dark Samus sent him a call, "Two things: One, the ship is the Acheron. Two, they had a destination in mind, and it has some references to those "Forerunners" that were mentioned in the Spirit of Fire's logs."

Part 2a: Search and Rescue

Samus looked at herself in the mirror, she definitely wouldn't be one to call herself vain but… it was a drastically different look for her to let her hair down. Toa's little "secret" really hadn't been all that complicated, just a hair pin that gathered her hair up and let it fall when removed. Sometimes it was the simplest of things that you overlooked.

She cast one last glance at herself in the mirror before turning on a dime and starting the long walk to the bridge. Cutter wanted to personally get her take on the destruction of the Chozo temple, and whether or not they should send a few MAC rounds into the debris to make sure or not. He really needn't have bothered; when the Chozo did something it was… had never been done half way. She would have just told Cutter that but… she was having a hard time getting over the old wound that the Federation had reopened. She had thought that the Space Pirates had executed ALL of the Chozo when they had invaded Zebes and Tallon IV. To have had a survivor and have that last one presented to her and abruptly ripped away again…… She pushed her feelings aside; she would have plenty of time to deal with them later.

She walked onto the bridge, taking note of the fact that all of the men were (once again) staring at her.

Cutter cleared his throat, loudly, and all of the bridge promptly got back to work, "Glad you could make it Samus… I'm sorry about your friend."

She shook her head, "He was already dying. There was nothing you or I could have done."

Cutter nods and walks over to a holographic representation of the ruins, "Do you think there is any possibility that…" An alarm cut Cutter off.

The naval officer at the navigation control shouted, "Captain! Fifteen ships coming out of slipspace. Ten brute ships and five Space Pirate frigates."

Cutter started to shout orders before the nav officer interrupted him, "Sir! We have boarding craft inbound ETA two minutes."

Cutter ordered, "Get the gunners on them, take out as many as they can." He then turned to her, "Samus, the marines know what to do against those brutes but I don't know what those Space Pirates are bringing to the table. Could you get down to the hanger and hit them when they land?"

She nodded and spun on her heel, doing her hair up and shoving her helmet on inside of ten seconds. It was just like old times, killing Space Pirates to distract herself from a wound. She took a shortcut through the engineering block to get to the hanger, dropping though a vent in morph ball form to shave further distance off. She was aware that when she dropped into the hanger she landed on one of the assailants, probably one of the Grunts. She rolled out of the morph ball and immediately started taking fire. Out of combat instinct she dove away from the plasma shots hitting her in the back and took cover behind a stack of ammo crates that the marines were using. The rhythmic staccato of the ballistic rifles was incessant. On a whim she shot a glance upwards, there was a ledge where more marines and several members of Wallace's crew were using sniper weapons on both the Brutes and Space Pirates. While she was looking, one of the rifles pulled off a shot and almost instantaneously afterwards there was a sound that resembled a watermelon getting crushed. She snuck a look around the stack of crates and watched a, now headless, Space Pirate topple forward onto an unfortunate Jackal, which she promptly shot in the face. She heard a retching noise from above and caught a flash of pink hair, Toa was still hemophobic apparently. She stuck both head and laser around the stack and shot a quick flurry of shots at one of the brutes, destroying the armor and hitting it in the face with three of the shots.

A high pitched voice started yelling, "HAVE A TASTE OF MY BRIGHT, BLUE BALLS!!!!!!!"

She looked for the source of the screaming and was surprised to find that one of the Grunts had activated two of its plasma grenades and was now charging blindly towards the line of defense. She smirked, shook her head, and shot the squat alien right in the face.

One of the marines stopped shooting for a moment, probably to reload, looked over at her and commented, "Nice shot."

She smirked under her helmet and shot a look at a group of Jackals that were overlapping their shields, "You can thank me by throwing a grenade right there." She gestured toward the group of Jackals.

The marine pulled the pin on one of his grenades, "You got it!"

The grenade flew and exploded, sending the Jackals flying and leaving a small, black scorch mark on the steel deck. She stuck her head around again and took down three more Grunts and a brute before ducking back behind cover. Out of long habit she looked at her missile count… still full. Her radar still showed an almost solid mass of red dots behind her so… maybe she should start to have a little fun. She stuck her arm out of cover and began to indiscriminately spray her missiles into anything that moved. Grunts exploded like firecrackers... Brutes lost armor from one hit and limbs from the next... But those stubborn Jackals did the "duck and cover" tactic that the first one she met had used, sending some of her missiles up into the hanger roof.

A loud clanging caught her attention; one of her missiles had hit one of the beams and loosened it from its bindings. The heavy piece of metal was falling straight down towards the marine that had obliged her with a grenade. She dove and tackled the marine out from under the falling steel.

The marine gave a pained gasp, "You know... normally I wouldn't mind being in this position with you... but your armor weighs a ton, and this really hurts."

She didn't deign to respond to that, "You're welcome."

She stood and surveyed the remaining covenant, there were only about... fifty or so left. She took a quick look up at her shield charge... still mostly full. She signaled to the marines that she was advancing and waded through the pile of bodies. Her radar went crazy all of a sudden; red dots started moving around everywhere. She tracked a few of them for a moment before she realized that it was some kind of jamming.

Out of nowhere a large arm snatched her by the shoulder and yanked her behind a large slab of steel that had been dislodged from the roof by one of her stray missiles. She was hit in the back and tossed back out into the open for a moment until whatever it was grabbed her leg and dragged her back behind the wreckage. Out of instinct she clawed at the floor as she was dragged, but whatever it was was almost as strong as John. She was flipped onto her back and her laser arm was painfully twisted into an unnatural angle, it was then that she saw her attacker clearly; it was the unmistakable armored visage of a Brute. The eyes that she could see through the helmet glittered with absolute hatred. The brute punched her in the stomach... something snapped inside of her. The thumb of her free hand went straight for the eye slit on the Brute's helmet... and went in. The Brute immediately let go of her laser arm and grasped both hands to the sides of its head, roaring in agony. She started shooting.....................

Someone was shaking her by the shoulder, "Samus? Samus the thing is dead!"

She blinked a few times... and looked where she had her weapon aimed. There was a black crater in the metal where there should have been a Brute body. Had she... really lost it like that? She waved off the concerned marines and began to walk towards the hanger entrance.

Toa was waiting for her just outside the hanger, "Miss Aran? Are you ok?"

She looked at the other woman with a weary glance, "You CAN call me Samus after all this time you know?"

Toa looked hurt, "Oh... I'm sorry."

She took another look at Toa... The young woman was as pale as a sheet and was literally shaking. Toa was terrified of blood and she had come down to the blood drenched hanger because she was worried. She looked down at herself for a moment; the front of her armor was drenched in the dried blood of the Brute.

She grabbed Toa's arm and supported the young woman before she could collapse, "Come on, let's get you to the doctor."

She led Toa by the arm into the lift where the pink haired woman leaned against the wall.

Toa was breathing in shallow gasps, "You do know why I don't want to call you by your first name… right?"

She punched in the floor of the medical wing before responding, "Yes… yes I do."

What Toa was implying was that she was her hero, that she didn't feel on the same level of familiarity to have the right to the first name basis. It wasn't a mindset that she understood, but it was there. She would just have to humor Toa until the younger woman got over it. She knocked on the door of the medical wing.

A familiar, thickly accented German voice answered, "The doctor is in!"

As she led Toa in Adolf von Krieger smiled and shook his head, "Young lady… how many times am I going to have to tell you to stay away from combat?"

Toa stammered, "But…"

Adolf cut her off, "No "buts", or next time combat is imminent I will give your husband sedatives to use on you."

The doctor walked over to the far wall and bodily hid the keypad as he typed in a security code for the medicine cabinet.

Adolf took a small bottle out and handed it to Toa, "Take two of these over the next few hours. Then come back and check in with me."

Toa gave him a quick nod and staggered out of the clinic.

Adolf sank down into a chair, "I swear, that girl is going to get herself killed trying to emulate you. If you are afraid of blood you have no place in either the medical or military fields."

She stood there for a moment, debating with herself on whether or not to tell Adolf about her episode in the hangar. If her psych was starting to crack for some reason it would be dangerous to anyone around her… then again…

Adolf noticed her standing there, "Something I can help you with Samus?"

She decided against telling him, "Ah… no." She turned around and marched out of the clinic.

Her logic had told her that it was only something to worry about if it happened more than once, but if it did… why was she dwelling on this so much? It was unlike her.

A video link opened in the top right corner of her HUD, Serina appearing in the window, "Samus, I intercepted an encrypted transmission from the command vessel before it fled. It contained most of the usual religious babble and a set of co-ordinates. Before I bother the captain with them I was hoping you could tell me if they are related to anything you know of."

She was surprised by the AI actually coming to her and asking for input, "You want my help?"

Serina snapped back, "The numbers fall well outside of my database and I don't want this ship flying straight into an ambush. Now if you will just look at the numbers…"

A string of co-ordinates rolled across her HUD, pointing to a section of the universe that she personally had never been to.

She shook her head, "Sorry, I've never been there nor do I know what is."

Serina gave what amounted to a sigh, "Very well. Once the other Spartans arrive we will be off to this "mystery sector"."

She asked, "The other Spartans? Jerome and his team?"

Serina replied, "As Jerome put it, "Command finally felt safe enough to let them get back to doing their jobs," I believe he was rather irritated."

Serina cut the line and left her free to wander back to her ship. It looked like her chance to explain things to John was going to be a lot further off than she had planned.

Phase 3: The Shield World

John slowly woke from his slumber, it had been about six days that the Acheron had been in slipspace and this ship ALSO had no cryo storage. Not that he had wasted his time. He had personally interrogated all of the ODST's about the video that Dark Samus had lost. They knew that if he found out that it had been spread from them that… he hadn't actually threatened them with physical harm but he had let their imaginations do that work for him. Not that he was through fuming about it however. Something of Wallace's body was going to break when he got back to Earth, and he was leaning towards the teeth.

Dark Samus gave him a call over the Acheron's intercom, "Master Chief, please report to the bridge immediately."

He scowled and began to walk towards the bridge. That was another thing he was going to discuss with Wallace. He was going to… request that Dark Samus never be sent ANYWHERE that he was going to be unless the pirate was there to keep her away from him. Dark Samus had taken quite a liking to being at the helm of a battleship and the power was starting to go to her head. Once, three days ago, she had set off the 'battle stations' alarms while the ODST's and him were asleep. The instant they were awake and in the middle of preparations the intercom started blaring out Dark Samus's hysterical laughter. The ODST's had rushed up to the bridge to try and give her a piece of their minds but found the blast door sealed. Dark Samus had changed the code on the door lock.

He stopped outside of the sealed blast door, "What do you want?"

A small section of the steel slid aside and Dark Samus's face appeared, "To talk. I've been starved of intelligent conversation for three days."

He gave a dry laugh, "What did you expect would happen when you started abusing your position?"

Dark Samus's face twisted into a grimace, "Not every last person on the ship to start avoiding me… Are you going to come in?"

He thought for a moment… activated the energy blade and sawed out a section of the blast door large enough for him to comfortably walk through. Dark Samus stared at him with a stunned expression as he let the slab fall out towards him.

He inclined his head to look down at Dark Samus, "You wanted to talk, so talk."

Dark Samus turned away from him for a moment, sending a glance over his shoulder towards the hole he had made in the blast door, "The marines aren't out there… are they?"

A note of suspicion crept into his voice, "No… why?"

Dark Samus took a seat at the navigation console and turned it to face him, she hesitantly spoke, "What……what do you see in Samus?"

He was stunned for a moment, was Dark Samus really asking this???

He replied, "You… are asking me why I like her?"

Dark Samus nodded, "What makes her so special?"

He took a moment to think about his answer before speaking, "… We both share a rather tragic past. She lost her parents to the Space Pirates and I was conscripted when I was seven. She had no one and the other conscripts that I was raised with are mostly dead. Till we met we both led a life of loss."

Dark Samus looked away, "How eloquent…"

A few moments of silence passed before he asked, "Why are you asking this? It's not like you aren't already involved with someone else."

Dark Samus remained silent for a few moments, "…Wallace knew Samus before me, right?"

He didn't quite get where Dark Samus was going with this, "…Yes."

One of the keys on the nav console lit up, Dark Samus dealt with it before continuing, "And he spent a lot of time around her, right?"

An idea of what direction she was going in popped into his head, but he didn't voice it quite yet, "Some."

Dark Samus replied and his idea was proven true, "Then how do I know that I'm not just a replacement Samus for him?"

The solution seemed simple to him, "So you doubt that Wallace really cares, you seem to have plenty of other options."

Dark Samus tore her helmet off; her eyes were wet, "That simple? Try touching me."

Suspicion rose of within him again, "…Why?"

Dark Samus snapped, "Humor me… just this once."

Slowly, he reached out and set one of his fingers on her shoulder plate… nothing happened.

Dark Samus pointed to the side of her face, "Here stupid."

At her bidding he moved his finger from her shoulder to her cheek… after about one second his shields were half-drained and he drew his hand away.

An angry tear slipped down the side of Dark Samus's face, "I've been recovering, starting to become more like my old self. Wallace is the only person that won't die from touching me and… I don't even know if he really…"

He shook his head, "Trust me, you are nothing like Samus."

Dark Samus glared at him, "You're biased…"

He added on to her comment, "And practical. Your attitude is completely different; in the words of the marines… you're a bitch. Plus the fact that you like to pretend to be available and then mess with the marines heads… and then there is how moody you are compared to Samus…"

Dark Samus cut him off, "I get the point."

There was a long moment of silence.

He broke it, "If that's everything…"

Dark Samus turned the chair away from him, "You might as well stay. The ship's coming out of slipspace in ten minutes."

He wasn't an expert at reading voices, but he could detect the slight note of thanks in Dark Samus's voice. Something he honestly thought he would never hear. If he thought about it… Dark Samus had a valid point. Like it or not, she was a copy of Samus and her being quasi single (no one could really be in a monogamous relationship with Wallace) didn't help her case. As he had thought when Samus had told him about Dark Samus he merely shook his head and wondered how in the entire galaxy Samus had managed to spawn this temperamental thing in front of him, maybe he should ask for the full story next time he saw Samus, it should be interesting to say the least.

Dark Samus spoke up, "What are you chuckling about?"

He waved it off, "Nothing."

The Acheron broke out of slipspace… and was immediately hit by a barrage of Archer missiles.

He braced himself against the wall to prevent himself from falling, "Hail that ship NOW!"

Dark Samus mumbled, "No need to yell…"

Captain Cutter appeared on the foreword view screen, "Sorry about that Chief, been getting rather jumpy with the Brute ships that keep showing up."

He stood, slowly, "It's fine sir."

Cutter's image flickered, then righted itself, "I'm curious as to how you arrived here, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. You'll be happy to know that that the rest of your team has joined us from command."

He quickly asked, "And Samus?"

Cutter smiled, "She's alive Chief, and I'm sure she'll be pleased to find that you're alive as well. Now as to why we are here..."

His posture and stance gave the impression of absolute attention, but his conscious mind was elsewhere. Cutter had said that Samus was alive, not that she wasn't hurt. If she was... on top of the damned video that was still unaccounted for.

He mumbled to himself, "It's just one thing after another..."

Cutter broke into his thoughts, "Chief? Did you get all of that?"

He replied, perhaps a little too quickly, "Yes sir. Get down there and find out what the Brutes want."

Cutter nodded, "Exactly."

He waited three seconds before asking, "Will I be taking the marines with me down or...?"

Cutter shook his head, "I'll send Jerome and his team, and then I'll get some of my people over onto that ship."

He nodded, "Dark Samus should be able to get them up to speed quickly... if she feels like it."

Dark Samus spoke up, "Aww... you're so kind for actually giving me a choice."

After Cutter closed the video link he replied, "Consider it an early bit of payback for me breaking Wallace's teeth next time I see him."

A flicker of alarm passed through Dark Samus's eyes, "Uh... you're really going to break his teeth?"

He paused before leaving through the hole he had cut, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

Dark Samus bites her lower lip, "Well..."

He taps on the steel a few times, "I'm waiting... and I'm VERY eager to get this job done so I can see Samus."

Dark Samus pleaded, "Just... talk to him before you... break anything."

Just for fun, he asked again, "Reason...?"

Dark Samus's voice sounded strained, "Just... could you do it as a personal favor?"

He turned to leave, "Why not? Wallace should have a chance to plead his case."

As he walked out he practically heard Dark Samus slump in relief. Looks like she really did love the pirate, who would have ever guessed?

One of the marines was waiting for him in the hanger, loading the ammo crates and weapons back onto the pelican.

He walked up to the ODST, "Something wrong?"

The marine looked over his shoulder, saw his armored visage, and gave a violent start, "Ah! Chief, ah… yeah. The maneuvering jet on the right side is trashed, looks like it's been chewed on."

He looked over to where Ridly was "sleeping". The dragon had noticeably shifted position from before… and there was a trace of orange engine coolant on the beast's maw.

He sighed and opened a com line with Dark Samus, "Could you get on the horn with the Spirit and tell them to NOT shoot the thing coming out of our hanger? Ridly gnawed on the pelican while we were gone."

There was a sigh of exasperation on the other end of the line, "That stupid dragon… even when he was smart he'd chew on random things. Just make sure you don't leave him alone with Samus, he might not remember that she was his mortal enemy but she looks like she could be a prime chew toy."

He took a seat behind Ridly's head and spoke, "Remember what I said about giving Wallace a chance to defend his actions?"

Dark Samus's tone grew worried again, "…Yes."

As Ridly slid the hanger doors open and launched out into the void he spoke three words, "Forget about it."

When he was about half-way to the planet a video link opened in his HUD… it was Samus, "John? Why are you riding Ridly?"

The dragon dove into the atmosphere at a shallow angle to avoid burning him to a crisp, "It's a long story, suffice to say that we have a lot to talk about after this is over."

Samus bit her lip, "Yes… we do." And shut the link.

Once Ridly had entered the lower atmosphere and started to head for the landing site that Jerome, Alice, and Douglas had set up he paused for a moment. Something about Samus had been different somehow… he mentally brought up the image of Samus that he had just seen. That was it; she had let her hair down. Even as he thought this though he still had this nagging feeling that there was something else. He set Ridly down a good sixty paces away from the pelican and slid down the dragon's spine to get to the ground.

Jerome shot a look up at the dragon, "…Stylish. Almost like a medieval knight riding in on a horse."

He got right to business, "We have a destination?"

Jerome nodded, "Yes sir, there is an access tunnel to some sort of cave system one kilometer to the north. We would have landed there but there was some kind of anti-air battery that took a few pot-shots at our bird. Valor is over there now trying to disable it. As for the ground between here and there… some kind of field is preventing a bio-scan."

He gestured to the dragon behind him, "Snag fixed, the dragon will take point."

Alice commented, "Nice, it's like we have a miniature, winged scarab on point that follows your every command."

He muttered to himself, "Now if only he could learn to not chew on things."

He ordered Ridly to move forward and the dragon readily complied. Him and the other Spartans kept a safe amount of distance between themselves and the apparently docile beast.

Samus watched John and his team set off into the wooded section of the world through the overwatch station on the Spirit of Fire. Things… had been happening. She'd woken in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, nauseous to a large degree. At random times during the last few days her back would spasm… and she had a pounding headache that persisted regardless of what she did. It had almost gotten to the point where she was going to get Adolf to run a full body scan to find out what was wrong, but there wasn't time for that at the moment. John was down on this mystery planet and she was going to be there regardless of what anyone said. She was currently searching for Wallace so he could lead her to wherever these "Helljumpers" where shot from. Adam had staunchly refused to fly her ship down to the rendezvous point after witnessing the firepower of the anti-air battery that was set up there. She walked into the mess hall, one of Wallace's favorite places to be. Sure enough, Wallace was sitting at a table with some of his crew, laughing at something Wallace had just said.

She walked over and tapped Wallace on the shoulder, trying to ignore her head, "Wallace?"

The pirate turned around, "Ah, lassie, what can I do for you?"

It made her stomach do flips to ask but she did, "Those drop pods that the ODST's use, can you show me where they are?"

Wallace gave her a look of disbelief, "…You want to drop down there in one of those pods???"

She nodded, "…Yes."

Wallace started to chuckle madly and stood, "Oh I have got to watch this… This way lassie, your chariot awaits."

She followed Wallace out of the mess hall, thinking, 'Wallace is laughing… this can't be a good thing.'

The pirate led her through the medical wing to a plain hallway lined with the drop pods. Almost every one of them had a personal touch of some kind, artwork by the ODST that was assigned to the pod. One of them was………

Her eyes narrowed, "…Wallace… who's pod is this?"

The pirate turned and looked at the pod she specified, "… That one would be mine."

She glanced back at the… artistic representation of her twin, "Of course… you have a sick mind, you know?"

Wallace waved it off, "Say what you will lassie, I did the painting myself so I'm rather proud of it." The pirate slapped one of the pods near the end, "This one is unassigned so I don't think the captain will mind you using it. Strap in Samus!"

The hatch flipped open ominously… or was it just her imagination.

Wallace's voice broke into her thoughts, "Oy, lassie, are you getting in or are you wimping out?"

She shook her head and stepped into the pod… "thunk"… she couldn't move any further.

Wallace started to laugh, "I don't know whether to call that a wardrobe malfunction or not, but it sure looks like one to me."

The shoulders of her armor had gotten caught on the edges of the pod, at least an extra six inches more than the pod could accommodate on each side.

Wallace pressed a button of some kind on his wrist, "Ok, suit off, in you go." And gave her a shove with his boot.

Her head hit the back of the pod. Somehow, Wallace had hacked her suit just like Valor had. She supposed that she really shouldn't be surprised by anything Wallace did anymore. She turned around and took her seat while Wallace shut the hatch.

Wallace tapped on the glass panel; his voice barely came through, "Good luck! Try not to throw up!"

She rested her head in her hands; trying to brace herself for what was coming… she failed. When the pod was released she flew straight up and hit the roof of the pod, she had neglected to fasten the safety harness. Once she had cleared the stars from her vision she actually realized what was happening, she was plummeting towards a planet, in a tiny steel coffin, with nothing but her zero suit for protection. It was a huge feeling of vulnerability that she was completely unused to. She watched the altitude meter fall from 100,000 to 10,000 inside of thirty seconds. That was when the unthinkable happened, the red warning lights started to flash all around the tiny space. The pods had a twenty percent failure rate didn't they? Well, either way, hers WAS failing. Not having many other options, she blew the door off and jumped, activating her suit shortly after clearing the broken drop pod.

Great… now she was in free fall at terminal velocity, could anything else go wrong??? She turned herself over in mid air to see where she was going to hit… Perfect… she was going to hit John at terminal velocity. At least she was coming in at an angle… maybe they wouldn't both die. She shot the dirt around John to get his attention, John looked up… too late to jump out of the way. She saw something orange flash on just before impact……………

Something hit the back of her helmet… well at least she was still alive, but what about… JOHN!!! Her eyes snapped open… she was looking straight into John's face plate.

She spoke softly, "John?" She would never forgive herself if he was dead.

Something deactivates and her body falls about a half inch down onto John. She looks down and sees the familiar shape of a Pirate commando shield gauntlet.

John speaks, "Nice to see you to."

She stood and looked back the way she had fallen. There was a deep trench that had been carved into the dirt by the sheer force of the impact.

John lifted himself up out of the ground, "Hadn't thought you'd be dropping in. Something urgent?"

She thought about telling John what had been happening… but it sounded too much like whining to her, "No, just thought you could use some help."

Even though she couldn't see his face, she knew John was smiling, "Always glad to have you along."

As they both began to run along the trench to get back to Jerome and the others she asked, "Would now be a good time to tell me why you were using Ridly as a mount?"

John shook his head, "That would take more time than we have right now. When we get back on board the Spirit ok?"

She nodded as they both reached the impact site where Jerome, Alice, and Douglas were waiting.

Douglas stood and shouldered his rocket launcher, "Falling out of the sky and landing on John was cute, ok, just try to keep the romance to a minimum. We've got a job to do."

As the other Spartans gathered their gear she moved over by Douglas and whispered, "Like I don't know you would like Alice to do the same to you."

Douglas didn't miss a beat, he replied, "No I don't. The difference is that Alice weighs twice as much out of her armor than you do IN yours. Not only would we both be dead, there would be nothing left but a twisted pile of metal."

She glanced over at where the female Spartan was lugging her chain-gun, walking right by where she was standing. She heard a slight, yet still very quiet laugh, as if Alice had known what she had just mentioned to Douglas. She turned around… and was face to face with Ridly. Out of long instinct she started to raise her weapon, preparing to shoot Ridly right between the eyes… Ridly didn't react at all. The dragon simply looked at the laser in his face, looked at her faceplate, and began to gnaw on the end of her laser. Her shields took a light hit but she let Ridly continue… it was the strangest moment of her entire life, excluding her falling in love with John.

John began to walk towards their destination and paused when he saw her, "Just be careful to not stand under his mouth when he's idle. The thing drools."

She turned and began to follow John, but was aware that Ridly was right behind her. It might have been something as simple as a difference in color scheme, marines and Spartans had a very similar color but… she remembered Adolf's comment on her "strut". She had forgotten all about it during the incident with the Federation and no one else had bothered to mention it. For a moment, she debated who she should ask. A Spartan would probably be her best chance for brutal honesty, but John might be nice and say she didn't. Then again she didn't really want to ask Douglas or Jerome… that left Alice. She had a rather vivid memory of the first thing Alice had said to her, something along the lines of her orange armor broadcasting a "shoot me" signal to every enemy on a battlefield. Still, it was a fairly good bet that Alice would be honest… brutally honest.

She opened a private com line with the female Spartan, "Alice, could I ask you something?"

Alice kept marching straight ahead, not even turning her head, "That would depend on what you want to ask."

She tried to find a polite way of phrasing the question, and failed, "Do I strut?"

Alice took a moment to respond, "And you're asking ME this?"

She replied swiftly, "I can trust that you will be honest."

There was a moment of hesitation, "…It depends on where you are. If John is around, you do. If he isn't, you don't. I guess you're asking because the dragon is following you?"

She let out a short laugh, "How perceptive, but that is right."

Alice pushed out of the trees into the open before the cavern maw, "My opinion… the thing likes your armor. It's more like a little kid than anything and you happen to be bright and colorful compared to us, still makes everything want to shoot you though."

The same barb still stung. But it really wasn't something she could do anything about until the next time she randomly came across a Chozo built ruin. Then a random thought hit her… why HAD she turned over most of her suit upgrades to the Galactic Federation? But that was a question for another time.

She turned her gaze over the massive anti-air cannons that had mysteriously sprung up from the jungle floor when the Spirit of Fire had arrived. Now that she was in close she could use her scan visor to figure out what they…

Before she could do anything the massive cannons sank into the ground. From above, a purple eye floated down.

1114 Resplendent Valor, monitor of installation 06, immediately started babbling, "Reclaimer! So good to see you again, I took the liberty of disabling the cannons while you walked here and…"

John raised a hand and Valor quieted, "Could you just tell us what's in there?"

Valor gave a "huff" of annoyance that her speech was interrupted, "The sentinels that construct this planet have recently re-terraformed the surface, and apparently there was an activation of the facility quite recently. There is a large "shield" structure below that it will take some time to open."

Something about the phrase "the sentinels that 'construct" the planet gave her pause.

John beat her to the question, "You say "construct"?"

Valor began to babble again, "Yes, the entire planet core is composed of sentinels far superior in quality to those that I command. They link together to…"

John beckoned all of them forward while Valor rambled on, knowing that it was pointless to bother the monitor when she was this excited. To her irritation, Valor followed them all as John led the way into the dark cave mouth.

John took a quick look into a small recess in the cave wall before moving on. The cave had been steadily leading them all deeper… not to mention leading them closer to insanity. Valor had been blabbering non-stop since entering the tunnel and nothing he, nor anyone else, said could shut her up. The very real possibility that her presence was the only thing keeping the "advanced" sentinels from attacking was only a small consolation.

Jerome signaled a stop, "Sir, got a vent on the wall, three meters ahead, low to the floor."

An idea hit him, he tried to get Valor's attention with a bullet, "You know where this leads?"

Valor eagerly responded, "The vent leads directly to the shield chamber, although it is currently blocked with debris."

He beckoned to Ridly, "Not for long."

The dragon followed his direction and burned the debris out of the way. Now they had a straight shot to the shield chamber… and no more listening to Valor.

He gave his orders, "Douglas, down the chute. Alice, you follow. The rest of us will come down once it's secure."

Douglas pried to grating off and dropped in, eliciting a loud sparking noise from his suit's shields as he slid down the long vent. Alice followed moments later with the same effect.

Twenty seconds later Douglas announced, "All clear sir, the place is empty."

He gestured towards the chute and waited before Samus shot down the shaft in her "morph ball" before going down himself. When he saw light below him he dug his free hand into the sides of the shaft like his fellow Spartans had done to slow down. He dropped down the seven meters of so to the floor of the chamber. A light drew his attention, off to the left.

He turned to Valor, who had just joined them at ground level, "What are we looking at?"

Valor flitted over to the light, paused for a moment, and returned, "You stand before the core of this installation. The "shield" as it were. Information that I have gathered indicates that several life forms are currently inside."

He looked at the light, and back at Valor, "Can you open it?"

Jerome put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you sure sir? Could be flood."

He turned to look at Jerome, "If it is, then we clean it up. Otherwise, it could be survivors. All the same, stay frosty." He glanced up at Valor, "Open it."

Valor "nodded", "One moment Reclaimer."

The monitor floated up to the top of the orb, and unloaded her super laser into it. The result was instantaneous and dynamic, the orb began to pulsate and expand, pushing them all back ahead of it. Once the orb had tripled in size the pinnacle of it began to dissolve, ergo the light started to go out. At about the half way point the process finished in one giant burst, followed by several heavy impacts and two smaller ones.

Valor floated over to him, "I thought to expedite the process a little bit. Once I was sure that the instantaneous deactivation would not harm the other reclaimers I killed the power." The little AI sounded rather pleased with herself.

Moments later he heard the distinctive sound of bullets impacting Samus's suit. A sound he was well used to by now he thought with a dry laugh.

He shouted, "Cease fire!"

Instantly, the bullets stopped flying. Whether it was in response to his order or because the targets had run out of ammunition remained to be seen. He turned on the flashlight in his helmet…

One of the people spoke, "Long time no see John."

The light from his helmet… illuminated Dr. Halsey.

Samus took a long hard look at the woman that was standing beside four other Spartans and an elderly man. John had frozen the instant he had seen this person… who was she?

She laid one hand on John's shoulder, "John?"

John gave a violent start, which was immensely unusual as it was nearly impossible to surprise him.

The woman spoke, "What's wrong John? You act like you're not happy to see me."

John spoke in monotone, "Really? You left "happy" in my head?"

That single line of speech told her everything she needed to know. This woman must be one of the people that had operated upon John and the other Spartans. Tearing into their minds and making "improvements" as Adolf von Krieger had put it, in a very nasty tone. That was just the surface of it to; there was a note of anger in John's voice. The simple fact that she, and probably everyone else, could tell that it was there meant that John was angry to the ninth degree. He hated this woman… strangely that thought made her feel slightly better.

The woman spoke again, "I should hope I did, else you would have made a very dull companion for Cortana. How is she by the way? She's been awfully quiet."

She saw John's hand tense on the grip of his pistol, "Went rampant, almost killed me. Rather makes me wonder about the source mind's sanity as well."

The other woman frowns, "Now that was uncalled for. After I helped you and all of the other children do such great things."

The Spartan standing next to the woman spoke, in a female voice, "Doctor, you really aren't in that kind of good graces with ANY of us. Me least of all."

She felt that there was an undercurrent of bitter resentment flowing from all the Spartans present. Quite possibly the only ones left. Was this the woman that had conceived the "project"?

The Doctor began to walk forward, "Really? You all hate me that much? I only did this for the greater…"

The doctor didn't get the chance to say much more, John seized the woman by the throat and held the doctor there, "Look, don't bother going on about the "greater good" to us anymore. I think after having most of our brothers and sisters die we have a very firm grasp on what the greater good is."

John let go and the doctor fell to the floor, then Jerome spoke, "Consider yourself lucky that we're professionals. I know I would rather just put barrel to head and pretend we never found you."

The woman on the ground appeared fully aware of what the Spartans were saying. In a way, this was revenge for them. Having the opportunity to tell the project leader that they were not just numbers. That every Spartan was also a person.

The other unarmored human stepped forward, "I hope that animosity doesn't extend to me."

John's voice returned to a normal tone and he shook the other man's offered hand, "Of course not Mendes."

John, Jerome, Alice, and Douglas then got to the business of re-acquainting themselves with the Spartans that had been inside the shield. By overhearing the conversation she gathered that two were women, Kelly and Linda. And two were men, Fred and Will. It was something that she imagined had happened when the Spirit of Fire had picked up John's wandering cryo pod. Something of a family reunion. Maybe, by extension, they were her family now to… what had she just thought??? The floor beneath them all began to shake.

Valor announced, "I regret to inform you that the deactivation of the shield has destabilized the planet. The sentinels that construct it are awakening to secure the premise. However, while they were designed to destroy the flood, they will regard anything they see as a threat… with the exception of myself of course."

She remarked, "Oh that is so comforting..."

Valor, oblivious to sarcasm, replied, "I'm so glad that you care for my well being."

John broke in, "Valor, tap the teleportation system here and get us out of here, and grab the dragon if you can."

A golden light enveloped all of them and there was a dizzying sensation of vertigo before they all, Ridly included, appeared at the clearing where Alice had parked the pelican. As the majority of the party swarmed into the hold of the pelican it became apparent to her just what Valor had meant by the planet being constructed by sentinels. The ground itself was splitting open and the dirt was falling into the center. Through these gaps she was able to see small flying machines rushing "upwards" to them.

She jumped up onto Ridly's back directly behind John and hung on for dear life as John's impromptu mount took off into the fading atmosphere.

She heard John speak into the com, "Captain, battle stations. The planet is out to get us."

There were no questions on the other end, just an affirmation. After all the strange things that the Spirit of Fire's crew had seen, it was little wonder that they believed that an entire planet was trying to kill them. Mere seconds after John announced the hostile nature of the planet the crew of every battleship, even the stolen Space Pirate ship, opened fire upon the pursuing sentinels. She expected most of the sentinels to be obliterated in seconds... she was disappointed. Only about half of the hostile sentinels were destroyed in the opening volley. The rest let out a collective blast that began to chase after the pelican as Alice flew it back towards the relative safety of the fleet. In response, John directed Ridly to dive alongside the blast.

She felt... afraid... for some odd reason, "What are you trying to do?"

Ridly fired an energy blast from his mouth before John replied, "Trying to disrupt the blast. If I don't then it'll destroy the pelican."

She fell silent after that. Once John set his mind on something it would take nothing less than a star blowing up in his face to dissuade him. Out of necessity she added her laser to the plasma blasts from Ridly's mouth, it was hard to discern, but there was a visible difference in the large energy burst every time a shot struck the point.

It did get to the point where John knew it was a lost cause, he contacted the pelican, "Alice drop the ammo crates, they might be enough to get the blast off of your back."

At John's bidding the back door of the pelican flew open, decompression tearing the loose ammo crates and other assorted objects out directly into the path of the energy blast. The crates were indeed enough to detonate the blast early, the problem was the concussion from the detonation rocked the pelican and dislodged several of the Spartans from the interior. Judging from the weapons that they stubbornly held onto she would guess that it was Jerome, Douglas, and... the one holding the other sniper rifle... Linda. John flew Ridly in and picked up the wayward Spartans while the fleet got around to demolishing the remaining sentinels.

Captain Cutter broadcast fleet wide, "I think it's safe to say why the Brutes were coming here." On a semi-private line he added, "Chief, get to the bridge at your the next opportunity. Dark Samus found some interesting co-ordinates in the Acheron's mainframe."

John mutely acknowledged the order and turned Ridly towards the Spirit of Fire's hanger.

Phase 4: Pirates and Medics

John parked Ridly in a corner of the hanger, far away from anything that the dragon might be tempted to chew on. Once he made sure that the dim-witted brute understood to not move from where it was he turned around to ask Samus what had been bothering her. To his disappointment, Samus had vanished. As had just about everyone else, the only other living things in the hanger now were him, Ridly, and a few mechanics disassembling a Longsword fighter over on the far side. Not having many other options, he began to make the long walk up to the bridge. As he walked he thought about the way his luck seemed to have been turning around. First he had been picked up by Jerome, Alice, and Douglas. Granted, Cortana had gone rampant shortly thereafter, but he really should have seen that coming. Then Samus had shown up… he almost started to laugh over some of the things that had started their relationship. Now, Will, Fred, Kelly, and Linda. All very much alive. If there was a downside to the miracle of finding four Spartans, still living, at once it was that Doctor Halsey had survived and was back to screw his life up again. If that doctor tried ANYTHING like her kidnapping stunt again… he realized with a small amount of surprise, that he was seriously contemplating murder. Thinking back on the remark Jerome had made however, he thought that the feeling was mutual with the rest of them. Chief Mendes still being alive was a pleasant surprise. But what exactly had he been doing on a Forerunner installation? That was a question for another time. He arrived at the bridge.

Captain Cutter waved him over to the large holo pad in the middle, "Chief, Dark Samus has found the Brute home planet. Once we are at full battle capacity We'll be off for it. Hit them right where it hurts."

He took a moment to absorb this, if it was true, and this really was the Brute home world… than they could end the war in one shot. No more people would have to die.

He saluted, "Just call us when you need us. We'll be ready."

Cutter nodded, "I know you will Chief, and I know that you will get done anything that needs to be done. You, Samus, the other Spartans, even Wallace Green."

John was reminded by Cutter's last remark of a certain visit owed to a perverted Pirate, and of a certain piece of media that deserved to be wiped from existence. He took the ship's tram to the mess hall. If Wallace wasn't there than there would be someone that would know where to look. His fortune held and the familiar face of Wallace was sitting on a bench off to one side, attempting to make conversation with Toa's fiancé. As he walked towards the pirate, Wallace looked up, saw him coming, and waved in a friendly way. Either Wallace didn't care, or the guy was just crazy… it was probably a little of both.

He spoke, "Wallace, a word?"

The pirate shrugged, "Why not?" and stood to follow him.

He led Wallace to an unused storage closet, shoved Wallace in, and closed the door after he entered as well.

Wallace was the first to speak, "I suppose this is about that little video that Dark Samus showed you?"

He remarked wryly, "How perceptive. Do you have a reason for taking it?"

Wallace smirked, "You'd laugh if I told you."

He scowled beneath his helmet, "Really? I find it hard to think that anything you could tell me right now would be that funny."

Wallace waved it off, "Sure… So, are you familiar with the term, "marriage"?"

He paused for a moment… "You are kidding, right?"

Wallace laughed, "Nope, not at all. It was part of an elaborate plot to get you to pop the question to Samus. I was, of course, the mastermind."

He felt anger building, "Than no wonder it has failed miserably."

Wallace scowled, "Well not everything went according to plan. Dark Samus lost her copy of it and I happened to have a hole in the pocket I left mine in. Things don't always work out like they should."

He pointed out something, "Even if you had gotten things to go "right", what did you think would happen?"

The pirate shrugged again, "I assumed you would get all flustered, Samus would get all flustered, then when you got back on the same ship you seek each other out, have a long and drawn out conversation of where the relationship was going… oh… I forgot that neither of you would have ever thought of marriage."

He felt the beginnings of a headache, "Your plans always have a hole in them, you know that?"

Wallace smiled, "Well, both copies are lost. No harm done."

He shook his head, "Dark Samus's copy was found. I know one of the marines that were with me found it. They're keeping it hidden. I just have no proof as to which one of them it is."

Wallace's eyes went wide, "Well… that is a problem isn't it… I hope you scared all of them suitably against showing it to anyone else."

He nodded, "I did. But there remains the possibility that one of them will ignore me."

Wallace looked thoughtful, "Well… I guess I'll get some of my mates to start scouring the cabins for the video then."

He was astonished, "You can do that?"

Wallace let out a hearty laugh, "We aren't called pirates for no reason. We'll find it unless the SOB always has it on him."

As Wallace left the closet he thought to himself, 'That's what I'm afraid of.'

Once John had landed Ridly, Samus began to make a beeline for the medical bay. Her being afraid in the middle of a mission was the absolute, last straw. Something was wrong with her and she was going to find out what it was.

She knocked on the door to medical, "Adolf?!?

The German master sergeant opened the door, looking rather haggard, "Samus? You to?"

She didn't understand what Adolf meant, "What are you talking about?"

Adolf shook his head, "Sorry, there seems to be a minor flu outbreak on this ship. I've been on duty for hours diagnosing cases, staring at a tiny glowing screen… my apologies. I've been on duty for far too long."

She trusted Adolf to be discrete, so she pushed, "Do you think you're up to one more diagnosis? I… need some help."

The German gave her a slight smile, "Of course, I can last one more case for a friend. Just step up onto the platform and remove your armor. Before you ask why, it will block the diagnostic."

She followed the doctor's instructions and waited for Adolf to start.

The German activated the device, "So, what seems to be the problem? In your own words."

She tried to ignore the blue light traversing her body, "I can't sleep, my back with spasm for no reason, I have a constant headache… and I lost it when a Brute punched me in the stomach."

Adolf took a seat and sipped from a small paper cup, "Explain what you mean by "lost it"?"

She looked over at the doctor, "I gouged out the Brute's eye with my hands. Then I shot the corpse until I burned a crater in the deck."

Adolf observed, "This would be just before you brought Toa down here last time, correct?"

She nodded and listened to the slow, low hum of the machine as it continued the scan. Finally, she would have her answers. As Adolf was taking a sip from his cup, the screen he was looking at flashed, and glowed brighter.

The German's eyes bugged out of his head and he choked on whatever he was drinking, "…Samus……… have you had… intercourse over the last month?"

The sheer bluntness of the question surprised her, "Wha… why do you need to know that?!?!?"

Adolf gave her a serious look, "Because if what this machine is saying is true… Samus… you're pregnant."

There was a very long moment of silence before she could gather the wind to reply, "You… this is some kind of sick joke right? I… I can't be…"

Adolf interrupted her, "Can't you? I'm guessing it at one month from the time you invited John on board your ship after we left the Galactic Federation planet. That seems like a fairly logical timeline to me."

Her mouth moved, but no words came out. Adolf sounded completely serious but, of all the things that could have been wrong… it had to be THIS?

There was a light tap from the hatch, she turned around and the woman that had been present in the core of the shield world was leaning against the hatch wall.

The other woman spoke, cordially, but with an edge, "Now what was that? I couldn't help but hear the words "John" and "intercourse" in fairly short succession. Are you saying, Adolf, that the woman on the pedestal is carrying John's child?"

Adolf's voice could have frozen helium it was so cold, "Frau Halsey… if you merely breathe word of this to ANYONE I will personally, and slowly, execute you. Or, better still, I could put you through the same procedure that we used on the Spartans. Think that you could survive that?"

Doctor Halsey was unfazed, "Really Adolf…"

The German interrupted by pulling a pistol out, "That is Master Sergeant Adolf von Krieger to you. We are not on a first name basis and so help me God we never will. Now turn around and crawl back into whatever hole you came from."

Dr Halsey stuck her hands in the air and slowly backed out of the room before smartly pivoting on her heel and marching off.

She asked the obvious question, "That woman, she's the one that started the Spartan program isn't she?"

Adolf's hand shook with rage as he holstered his pistol, "Indeed. In my opinion, that woman is a monster. She steals hundreds of children from across the galaxy… mutilates them… and turns them into killing machines. She still seems to regard them all as her personal property though. You should be careful around that doctor; Halsey has a reputation for doing whatever she has to, to get her way. She likely sees your child as an extension of John himself… On the subject of John, would you like me to tell him?"

She shook her head, "No, I… I'll tell him."

Adolf nodded, "That is your decision." The entire ship gave a lurch, "It would seem that we are now underway. I would suggest that you not enter cryo sleep. It could be bad for the fetus."

With that, Adolf left the medical wing.

She stood there for a while, the magnitude of what she had just learned still sinking in. How exactly was she supposed to tell John something like this?

A transmission from Adam interrupted her thought process, "Lady? The ship is about to enter slipspace. Shall I prepare your room?"

She replied as she started walking, "Yes… please do."

Possibly due to the distracted sound of her voice, Adam asked, "Lady, is there something troubling you?"

All she managed was a half-hearted, "Nothing."

From Adam's tone she could tell that he didn't believe her, "I see…"

Still in a daze, she slowly wandered back to the hanger through the empty ship.

Phase 5: Brute Force

John woke from cryo to the sound of battle alarms raging. The ship had apparently jumped right out of slipspace into combat.

His com line blared; it was Captain Cutter, "Chief, get down to the hangar on the double. You and your team are heading planet side to start the invasion while our ships slug it out with the Brute and Space Pirate ships. Once you get down there we won't be in a position to drop in the heavy vehicles for a long time. You'll be on your own."

He was already sprinting for the hanger, "Understood sir. We'll clear the way."

He burst into the hanger where the other Spartans were already loading the pelican with all the heavy artillery that they would need to deal with Brute driven wraiths.

He scanned the interior of the pelican, "Where's Samus?"

Will answered him, "The orange one? She's balled up in the cockpit, strapped to the floor, said something about not getting bounced around so much."

He nodded in acknowledgement, "Remind me to cut her loose when we land."

Kelly got his attention, "What about your pet?"

He looked over to where one of the engineers had fashioned a heavy steel chain and bolted Ridly to the floor.

He replied, "The dragon stays… unless you want to try getting him to do what you want."

Kelly shrugged, "Why not?"

He gestured at the sleeping dragon, "Go ahead. Just make sure that you don't burn up on entry."

Kelly saluted, grabbed her gear and rushed over to Ridly's sleeping form. Wallace had actually made a remark once, "Give a Spartan a new tool of destruction and they'll act like a little kid at Christmas." It was surprisingly fitting.

He bounded up into the pelican's bay, "Alice, kick the door."

Alice replied with a strong, "Affirmative!"

The pelican dropped out of the hanger and seemed to fall towards the Brute homeworld. From what he could tell, the planet was heavily forested, with only a few open plains and oceans. He could guess, from the lack of disturbances in the plains that most of the Brute camps were in the forests. It was going to be a long and difficult fight to force the Brutes out into the open where the plasma weapons of the Elite ships could be used to full effectiveness. It would be the first time he had participated in the glassing of an entire planet, but he felt that it would be a form of poetic justice. The Brutes had glassed numerous human planets, why shouldn't they die the same way they had killed most of humanity? Five more pelicans and three Elite phantoms fell in behind Alice's pelican.

The Arbiter contacted him, "Spartan, we are with you until the end."

He cordially replied, "The same to you."

He closed the line and unhooked his crash webbing, stepping forward into the cockpit. Samus was right where Will had said she was, bolted to the floor with a few leather straps. He wondered just how effective the straps had been at minimizing the nausea. Maybe after they were forced to take a break from fighting he would be able to ask Samus why she had vanished right after getting back from the shield world.

They had gotten low enough, so he ordered, "Alice, pop the hatch."

Once his fellow Spartan had done so he took a look outside. They were currently flying low over the tops of the trees. Something in the trees below glinted and caught his eye… he jerked his head back as a beam rifle shot tore through where his face had just been.

He walked back to the cockpit, "Alice, you if you see anything, don't hesitate to fill it with lead."

Alice immediately started raining high-caliber rounds from the pelican's mini-gun into the forest canopy, "I've been waiting for you to say that sir."

Almost immediately, roars of bestial pain filled the air. The other drop ships quickly followed suit and with the rain of plasma and bullets tearing through the canopy… something was revealed. He watched in near horror as a huge network of shade turrets, anti-air wraiths, and Hunter pairs were revealed by the falling leaves. The Brutes had a web of anti-air defenses laced through the entire canopy. They were only waiting until there was no escape…

He barked, "Alice, take us out over the plains, double time!"

As Alice turned the pelican, the Brutes below realized that their trap had been seen through. They started to shoot with the wild accuracy that he had come to expect from the Brutes. Even hand held weapons like spikers were being shot at the nine drop ships. The accuracy was bad, but a single lucky shot from one of the anti air wraiths could…

One of the pelicans to the left was hit; the pilot began to scream in a familiar southern drawl, "Mayday! We're hit! Going down in the woods!"

From the voice he could tell that the woman flying that pelican was Cassidy Sharp, a woman that had flown with him on the Ark and had been pretty much his personal pilot on the Galactic Federation home world.

The rest of the drop ships cleared the forests safely, flying out over the large grassland that covered about a few hundred square miles. There was a large crevice that was hidden by the trees on the edge of the savannah… that was going to make getting back into the forest a bit of a hassle. Once Alice had judged that they were out of range from the anti air guns she set the pelican down in the middle of the grass. The only thing taller than a single foot as far as he could see was a single gnarled tree less than a mile away.

He quickly formulated a plan and voiced his orders, "Jerome, I want you, Alice, and Douglas to stay here with the Elites and some of the marines. I'll be leading Will, Fred, Kelly, and Linda, along with the rest of the marines, into the forest to see if we can pull any survivors out of the crash."

Samus's voice came from behind him, "And me?"

He turned to face Samus, "That's up to you." He added at a lower volume, "But I would rather you come with me."

Samus nodded, "That makes my choice easy then."

He waved his fellow Spartans and the marines forward, noticing for a moment that he recognized one of them from his brief stint aboard the Acheron. That made him think, 'has Wallace found that video yet?'

He shoved the thought aside; there was a crashed pelican that needed his help.

Samus quickened up her pace to keep up with John and the other Spartans. She knew that she was distracted by thoughts of how she was going to break the news to John… but she had fought while distracted before. Notably during the debacle on the GF home world. She had been fine then, and she would be fine now.

As they marched she noticed that one of the Spartans… Linda, was hanging back a bit from the others. Was there a reason for this?

She altered her walk to bring herself up alongside the Spartan, "You're hanging back, is there a reason?"

Linda replied with a no nonsense tone, "I'm the sniper. It doesn't make sense for me to be right on the front line."

A little put off, she backed away, "Ok, I was just wondering…"

Before she moved away, Linda asked, "You're Samus?"

She stopped moving away, "Yes, I am."

Linda shot a glance between her and John, "You like him?"

She was rather used to how blunt the other Spartans were so she casually said, "Of course."

Linda gave a one word reply, "Good." And fell silent again.

Up ahead, John had raised his hand, the signal to stop. There was a pause… and about twenty crazed Brutes rose up out of the grass and ran straight for them. Lacking armor of any kind they were quickly slaughtered by the combined, withering fire of the entire squad.

One of the marines kicked one of the bloodied corpses, "What's with these markings? Look almost like paint."

One of the other marines said, "Come to think of it, has anyone seen any other animals except the Brutes and their covenant underlings? What do these guys…" The marine trailed off as he answered his own question.

The answer was not lost on her either. The Brutes ate each other.

John broke the disturbing moment, "Cut the chatter, those marines aren't going to last long on their own."

Reminded of the purpose for the mission and spurred forward by the realization of what might happen to their fellow marines if they didn't get there in time; the marines began to move even faster than herself and the Spartans. It was in this manner that they quickly approached the crevice separating the plains and the forests. She saw something glint and slowed her pace slightly… a pink laser beam shot out of the trees and hit her square in the face plate, knocking her flat on her back.

John saw her fall and yelled, "DOWN!"

Luckily for them, there was a small bank of dirt that they all could take cover behind.

John crawled over to her along the bank, "You ok?"

She checked her shield gauge before responding, "Yes, I'm fine."

John stuck his head up for the slightest of moments to survey the enemy fortifications, "They have a collapsible energy bridge to cross. It's down right now. Could you jump over the crevice and activate the bridge?"

She snuck a look over the bank and ducked again before a grenade hit her in the face, "Not without taking a few grenades to the chest, and I'm not getting over if that's the case."

While John thought there was a com burst from Fred, "Where's Douglas and his rocket launcher when you need him?"

She had a spark of inspiration and replied, "While we're wishing, why not wish for a Scorpion tank?"

There was a moment of collective silence before Fred spoke again, "…Good call."

John dropped back for a moment to throw a grenade over the crevice at a squad of Jackal snipers… the idea hit her.

She got John's attention, "Throw me."

The idea made John freeze in place for a moment, "You're serious?"

She nodded and engaged the morph ball, waiting for John to make the move.

Her awareness was slightly limited while in the morph ball, but she was aware when John picked her up, ready to throw. She felt John's arm draw back… that was when something went wrong. She felt an explosion, what with the extra electrical interference she had to assume that she had been hit by a brute shot grenade. She had a sensation of falling… until there was a massive impact from behind.

Corporal Samuel Bunting covered his head as another beam rifle shot slammed into the dirt right beside his head. By rights, he should have been dead already. But one of the Spartans had yanked him down just before a beam rifle had taken his head off of his shoulders. The man next to him hadn't been quite so lucky. His head had taken a brute shot right between the eyes… although it was hard to tell anymore. There was a sound like a rock being kicked… his eyes shot over to where the Master Chief was kicking a… where had the ball come from? Wait… was that the girl? His stomach started to do flips after he realized that the woman that had come along with them had physically rolled up into a ball… it just wasn't right. Before he could throw up his eyes caught something white sticking out of one of the pockets of the dead marine next to him. It looked like the kind of note that every one of them made so that, in the event of their death, something could get back to their families. His hand reached for it… it was a small chip wrapped in white paper. There was also something messy and small scribbled on the paper in pencil… 'C+S'. Whatever that meant. He'd watch it once they got back to the Spirit of Fire, if it was a personal letter he would send it on to the family.

John spent only half a second watching morph ball Samus fly after he was forced to kick her over instead of throwing. The brute shot had knocked her out of his hand on a straight path for the bottom of the crevice. He had no idea how deep it was and he wasn't about to let Samus fall into the pit to test it. He only hoped that Samus knew that he wouldn't have kicked her over unless he had to. He threw his last frag grenade over the pit and took out the chieftain that was bombarding the area to his right with fuel rod shots. That was when Samus burst out of the bushes on the other side of the crevice and began to draw fire away from the rest of them. As he began to put bullets into the backs of the Jackal snipers he had to admit that Alice had had a point about Samus's armor. It really did make everything hostile immediately start to shoot at her instead.

Once the ambush had been slaughtered, he saw Samus stumble over to the energy bridge and activate it. He was the first to rush across the bridge to where Samus had taken an awkward seat against a tree.

Samus was rubbing her back, "Nice kick."

He felt a flash of heat, "Ah…"

Samus shakily stood, "Don't worry about it, I've taken harder hits."

He nodded, still not feeling good about it, "Glad to hear it."

He turned on a dime and led the way into the trees.

Samus followed John at the easy pace he set, favoring her tenderized rear end. If she had to equate something to being kicked by John, even through her armor, she would equate it to having a planet falling on you whilst chained flat to another. In other words, it hurt a lot. She was suddenly struck by what impact, literally, that the blow had had on her child. This was going to force her to revise her entire fighting strategy… if not avoid conflict altogether. But she would never be able to sit on the sidelines while John was on the frontlines.

There was a shout from those same frontlines, "EYES FRONT!"

A wraith crashed through a tree and dropped the trunk square on her head. While the blow didn't affect her shields all that much, the concussion made her see stars. She was aware that the Spartans had piled onto the wraith and physically tore the Brute pilot out. She felt a hand on her arm; John was leading her to the gunner's position on the captured wraith.

Before she could ask what he was doing John spoke, "I don't want you walking around after that hit. Your armor might be fine, but I doubt you are."

With as dazed as she was, she really was grateful for the thought. There was only a few hundred meters left until they rescued the downed pelican anyway. Then they would be relieved and she could tell John about his child.

An armored canopy slid up and surrounded her, built as it was to accommodate a Brute; her armor had good clearance to move. The electronic targeting system booted up, giving her a thermal read out of the jungle ahead, also doing her the favor of painting the marines and Spartans a bright green in her screen.

Other than a few opportunistic Jackal snipers that she blew away before they could even get a shot off, the remaining distance to the downed pelican was uneventful. The captured wraith clearing the way quite handily through the trees. Maybe the Brutes had judged that they had lost too much trying to stop this one party. The Brutes had no way of knowing that John was the one that had destroyed most of their operations up until now, so they would react with any standard measures that they had come up with.

They broke out of the thick trees into the clearing created by the crash… there were piles of bodies everywhere. Most of the human corpses had been stripped to the bone. She climbed out of the gunner position and began to walk towards the actual wreckage… something went "thump" inside the metal hull of the downed pelican. A bloodied hand clasped at a groove in the twisted metal and started to drag a red head of hair into view. The body that the head was attached to was then quickly propelled outwards by a kick from a Brute that still had intact armor. The Brute started to laugh but then caught sight of her. There was a slight pause as the Brute debated over what it should do… the silence was broken by a loud rifle shot. The Brute slumped forward, a quarter inch hole right in the center of its forehead through both armor and flesh. She shot a look backwards to find only Linda's rifle raised and smoking. That was some kind of scary marksmanship. Linda couldn't have had more than half a second to aim.

Linda spoke, "You going to get her?"

She shook herself and nodded. Cassidy had dragged herself upright and was leaning against the hull of the pelican.

Cassidy smiled through the pain, "Bought time you showed up, thought I'd have to take on the whole planet by myself."

She shook her head, "And we're all very impressed. Now how am I supposed to fix you up?"

Cassidy pointed to a can of bio-foam, "Stick that into the wound and squeeze. It'll hurt like hell but I can take it."

She did as she was told and, after the harsh draw of breath from Cassidy, she knew that her job was done. Will dropped down to her level and picked Cassidy up.

Cassidy smirked into the faceplate, "Hello handsome."

Will paused for a moment, "…Ah, thanks…"

Everyone else started to pile into the wreckage.

She asked John, "What's going on?"

John replied, "The Spirit has broken away from the fight up there to give us some fire support. We know the general positions of the AA network so I called in an airstrike on those positions. We're also getting picked up to head back, Cutter has some things to tell us apparently."

She thought to herself, 'This can't be good… Cutter calling us back up in the middle of a mission. Something really bad must have happened.'

The forest started to explode around them, the roars of dying Brutes almost a symphony of pain. Although her reserves of sympathy were just about dry by now. Once the explosions died away she began to hear the distinctive sound of one of the Elite phantoms coming closer. She followed the line of marines that filed out and up into the gravity beam of the phantom.

The Arbiter was waiting at the top of the lift for John, "Spartan, one of your ships arrived from Earth. The human in charge demanded you to be present on the bridge for an announcement."

As the phantom flew into the vacuum of space she felt a cold feeling of dread of an unknown threat.

Phase 6: Symphony of Destruction

John rode the gravity lift down from the Arbiter's phantom; jumping clear the instant his boots hit the deck.

Will followed him down, still carrying Cassidy, "I'll bring the pilot to the medics and be on the bridge as soon as I can, ok?"

He nodded his approval and sent Will on his way. Noting the fact that, even wounded, Cassidy was still just as talkative, even though she wasn't getting much more than one or two word answers out of his fellow Spartan.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard Samus's voice, "I think I'm going to go lie down for a little."

He turned around to face Samus, "Make sure that you don't push yourself…" he was about to add 'after I kicked you' but was unsure of how to phrase the statement.

Samus apparently caught the intended quote, "Still feeling guilty about it? I'll be fine; my armor took most of the impact. Just try not to do it again, drained over a quarter of my shields from that one hit."

With that, Samus started to slowly walk off to her ship. He could tell that the hit still hurt though. What others might have taken for a strut he knew as a walk to not move certain muscles as much as possible. He had never done it, he had just seen enough marines walk like that after being thrown by a blast and landing on their tailbones.

He started to walk towards the bridge, wondering who could possibly have needed him on the bridge… there was one person. Garrett Myers, the lieutenant whose hand he had broken, would want him there for a possible suicide mission. That type of higher-up was always getting offended by the slightest bruise to their egos. He smiled to himself and thought about all of the "suicide missions" that he had already been on. Myers would be hard pressed to kill him, whether the lieutenant was trying to or not.

The Arbiter joined him at the door, "Someone you know?"

He shook his head, "I know who he is, but that does not make him a friend. The man hates me."

The Arbiter didn't speak, merely gave him a questioning look.

He continued, "I broke his hand by crushing the pistol he was pointing at Dark Samus."

Something sparked in the depths of the Arbiter's eyes, "This human aimed a loaded weapon at a female?"

He nodded, "Is that something criminal for you?"

The Arbiter looked off into space, "If any Elite so much as gestures to one of our females with a loaded weapon; the mate of the female is well within his rights to kill the offender."

He looked at the Arbiter, "That seems rather strict."

The Arbiter nodded as they both entered the bridge, "Indeed, but that is the way it is. And I see no reason to change it."

True to his prediction, Garrett Myers was waiting on the bridge where Captain Cutter usually stood. The admiral insignia was clearly visible on the man's coat.

Myers noticed their entrance, "Ah, and here we have both Spartan and one of the squid-faces… How nice of you to join us."

The Arbiter kept his composure despite the blatant insult, "You wished to ask something of the both of us. Speak it, or we shall both leave."

An angry twitch started in the corner of one of Myer's eyes, "Don't presume to order me, alien, and the Spartan follows MY orders, whether he likes them or not."

He spoke, "Then are you going to tell us why you dragged us both out of combat? There IS a planet filled with Brutes down there."

A smug expression filled Myers's face, "I am well aware of that fact, Spartan. The AI of this ship sent a slipspace message back to command that told us everything. And I am here to end this war before any more of our fine marines are lost on this alien hell hole."

Cutter broke in, "The Brutes don't talk peace admiral, they only understand war."

Garrett whirled on the Captain, "You will speak when spoken to CAPTAIN, unless you wish to be demoted, and I am not here to talk peace with those animals, I am here to destroy the entire planet."

It dawned on him what Myers was talking about, "The Nova bombs…"

Garrett whirled on him, suddenly furious, "How do you know of them Spartan? That is highly classified!"

He was unable to keep a smirk off of his face, "You lost a bunch of them on Reach. I set them all off."

Myers forcibly calmed himself, "…Either way… that is the mission that I have for you and your men. You are to deliver the bomb to the depths of a cavern that the AI has discovered, and you shall then manually detonate the device."

Captain Cutter exploded, "You can't order him to commit suicide!!!"

A self-assured smile lit up Myers's face, "Of course not, that is why he will volunteer."

He was momentarily stunned by what Myers was saying, "You expect me to volunteer?"

Myers puffed out his chest with pride, "You already have. It has been documented already that you volunteered to sacrifice your life for the good of the UNSC. As they say, it is history."

He waited for a brief moment… and turned on his heel and began to walk out of the bridge, throwing up his middle finger at the admiral on his way out.

Samus gingerly lowered herself down onto her bed. After a very long, and very hot shower she was slowly starting to regain feeling where she had been kicked. During that same shower, she had made up her mind to tell John about the child as soon as he came back from the bridge.

There was a knock of the exterior door of her ship, "Miss Aran? Are you in there?"

She stood herself up and stumbled towards the hatch, "Yes Toa, just a second."

She opened the hatch and Toa rushed inside, shutting the hatch quickly behind her. Now, the girl's behavior was strange enough, but the small data chip that Toa was holding only made it more suspicious.

She asked the girl, "Toa… what's going on?"

It looked like Toa had to struggle to find the words, "Ah… well…"

She took the stern approach, "Toa, I really don't have the time for you to 'ah' and 'um' for an hour, ok? What is it?"

The girl handed her the chip, "Jin took it off of one of the marines. He was showing the… contents to all of his friends."

After a brief moment of hesitation, she slid the chip into one of the slots on the nav computer, "Adam, what's on this?"

There was a pause, "…Nothing that need concern you Lady… nothing at all."

Her eyes narrowed, "Override code 648, show me what's on the chip."

Adam caved to the override code, "Very well… but you will wish you hadn't."

Five seconds into the grainy, green screened video she screeched, "TURN IT OFF!!!"

Adam rebuked her, "I hate to say it, but I told you so."

She didn't hear the computer's snide remark; she was too busy trying to figure out where the clip had come from. All the cameras on her ship had been down because Adam was offline, so what could have… A horrible thought hit her. John's helmet could record, and she couldn't remember where he had put the thing. Her heart, which had felt whole for the first time in her life, shattered into a million pieces.

Toa set a hand on her shoulder, "Miss Aran?"

Her voice was barely audible, "Get out."

Toa was taken aback, "What?"

She turned to the younger woman, crying for the first time since she thought John had died, "I said, get out!"

She practically threw Toa out of her ship. Shut Adam down, and sealed the door. To be alone with her feelings of betrayal… like she had always been.

John walked his way back to the hanger. With Myers here this was a better time than any to stay off of the bridge and out of mind. He knew that the nova bomb could just as easily be delivered down the cavern by an air drop, rather than have some poor soul sacrifice their life.

He approached Samus's ship and knocked on the hatch, "Samus?"

There was no response.

He knocked again, a little bit harder, "Samus, are you in there?"

A small panel slid aside and Adam's voice came through, "John… I'm sorry to tell you this but… Samus has seen the video that Wallace recorded. She will not listen to me try and tell her that it was not you. I… I am truly sorry."

He stood, completely still. His worst nightmare had come to pass despite all his efforts to the contrary. Samus thought that he had betrayed the trust that had been built between them, something that had been originally built upon tragedy. Would it take something equally tragic to bridge the gap?

A voice that he did not wish to hear rang out from behind him, "Oh, hello John. Has your woman told you the news?"

He slowly turned to face doctor Halsey, "…What news?"

Halsey smiled, something that gave him a bad feeling even before she spoke, "She hasn't then… well, I guess that I will. She's pregnant, and you are the father."

He froze… there was no word stronger than nightmare to describe this situation, which was clearly much, much worse than that. It struck him suddenly, how fickle that his luck had been. Everything had seemed to be going right up until five minutes ago. But now… the life he had tried to build, the reason he had had to live… was gone. Smashed, like a glass window hit by a gravity hammer.

He cast a long, forlorn look at the closed hatch of Samus's ship… and began to slowly walk towards the pelican that was being loaded with the nova bomb.

Ten minutes later.

Samus sat, alone, in the dark, trying to bring herself to stand and get on with her life. The anger though, and especially the deep wound of betrayal, were keeping her rooted to the spot. She had quickly run out of words to vocalize her feelings, since then she had waited in silence, almost praying that this was all some cruel dream or nightmare that she would wake up from.

There was a sliding sound from the hatch. She set her face in a hard expression, knowing that there were only two people on the entire Spirit of Fire that could open the door without ripping it out. Wallace rounded the corner with a lantern that hurt her eyes.

The pirate seemed furious, "What the hell is wrong with you lassie?!? What did you say to the Chief?!?!"

She shielded her eyes from the glare, "I didn't say anything to him. I heard him knock about ten minutes ago, but I didn't answer."

Wallace punched the wall, "DAMN!!! And with what Adam told him about your reaction to that stupid video…"

She broke into his little rant, "How do you know about it?"

Wallace shut off his lantern and activated the lights in the cabin, "I would think it obvious, but your female mind doesn't seem to be thinking logically at the moment. I'm the one who recorded the blasted thing, and now I'm really wishing that I hadn't."

She felt the smallest fraction of hope, until suspicion squashed it, "How do I know that John didn't just threaten you to get you to say this?"

Wallace withdrew the video chip from the wall and inserted it into a portable data pad, "First, I don't respond to threats. Second, I have proof that it wasn't John. Watch."

She shoved the data pad away, "I'm not watching that thing again."

Wallace grabbed her arm and put it in an arm-bar, "Your watching so I can prove my point."

The humiliating video began to play, but Wallace paused the clip almost immediately.

The pirate pointed to the bottom of the screen, "Right there, if you had been thinking straight you might have noticed it."

Right next to Wallace's finger, plain as day, was John's helmet, facing the camera.

An overwhelming wave of guilt washed over her. She should have noticed something that obvious, but she had been so distraught by the subject…

Wallace's earlier rant hit her again, "What has John done?!?"

Wallace gave her a snide smile, "Bought time you came around. Suit up, I'll tell you on the way."

She stood, activated her armor, and charged out of her ship after Wallace, "Now talk!"

Wallace sprinted towards a pelican that the other Spartans were loading with rockets, machine guns, and high caliber bullets, "After that blasted Halsey blabbed to John that you have his child, and the combined blow of your "rejection by silence", the knowledge that he would likely never see his own flesh and blood, John is now taking a planet-killing nuke down into a Brute infested cave to manually detonate it."

She helped to throw the last remaining supplies on board, "Why would he do that?"

Dark Samus answered her, "I think you underestimated your importance in John's life, you ARE his reason to live. You even replaced his duty. I heard that he flipped off the admiral that ordered him to go on the suicide mission in the first place… of course that was before you practically broke his…"

She cut in, "Enough, I get the point."

Wallace tossed up a bundle of rockets, "I really don't think you do. I was going to coach John on how to propose, after we had gotten rid of that video of course."

The guilt was starting to become too much, her voice came out rather strained, "Enough!"

A snotty, arrogant voice came from behind her, "And where do all of you think you are going?"

She turned around and was almost face to face with a man wearing an overly gaudy outfit that she guessed was supposed to be a mark of office.

Wallace answered the apparent officer, "We happen to be going to rescue the man you've condemned to death. And I think I'll throw you into the void when we get back."

She asked Wallace, "That's Myers?"

The Arbiter lifted a fuel rod cannon and several clips of ammunition into the hold, "Indeed, and he is not a very good leader."

Myers pulled a pistol and aimed it at the Arbiter, "I happen to be a VERY good leader split lip. Marines! Arrest them for desertion and dereliction of duty."

Not one marine, pilot, or technician in the entire hanger moved. Then one person detached himself from a group of people over by the wall, they were holding a shotgun.

Myers smirked at the oncoming marine, "Good choice. Unlike the rest of the people in here, you will not be charged with treason." Myers turned back to her and his pistol fell to his side, "Now then…"

There was the sound of a shotgun being cocked; "Now you will drop to your knees, Myers. Else I will blow a hole in you so big my head could fit through."

Myers dropped his pistol to the floor but remained standing, "Do you have any idea whom you are threatening? I'm an admiral of the UNSC, touch me and you will be executed for treason."

The marine tore off his helmet, revealing Adolf's face, "You really think that anyone in here would bear witness against me if I just pull this trigger right now? You've stepped on way too many fingers for anyone here to come to your defense."

Myers froze for a moment, and lunged for his pistol, Adolf pulled the trigger. The buckshot round made Myer's head explode like an over ripe fruit.

The Arbiter nodded to the German, "Well done."

Adolf replaced the one round that he had spent, "It was nothing. I have been waiting to do that since he came aboard. Now let's go save John."

She helped the German up into the hold of the pelican, Alice kicked the door, and the pelican dropped towards the planet like a ball of lead.

John gazed upon the entrance of the cavern. From what the intel had said, this place was almost considered to be a Brute nest. There were that many Brutes inside. Not that the defenses were limited to the interior, several wraiths were patrolling a swath of cleared space for about fifty meters around the cave opening. Normally, he would throw a frag grenade into the opening on the back of one of the wraiths to destroy it and cause some panic, but he needed stealth for this last mission. He counted the seconds that it took for the wraiths to make one circuit of the clearing, then the seconds it took for one to get from where he was hiding to just in front of the cave. Once he was satisfied with his sit rep, he dove from cover and latched himself to the underside of one of the wraiths. Once he counted fifty seconds from the time he had grabbed on he let go of the wraith and rolled to the right, straight into the cave mouth, completely undetected.

Once he was inside he took a moment to observe the Brute fortifications… or lack thereof. The inside was an almost primitive structure made mostly from wood, stone, and mud from what he could tell. Then it hit him why, four Brute chieftains, all armed with gravity hammers, walked right by where he was hiding. This was where the elite of the elite Brutes were stationed. If he so much as made one sound out of the ordinary… the entire Brute population would descend upon him faster than a MAC round. With the same effect. His HUD gave him a nav marker to head for, a point about five hundred meters down the cavern, the ideal place for him to detonate the nova bomb. He dropped into a crouch, and unlimbered the silenced shotgun that he had taken when he was dropped off. If he had to though, he would rather use his weapon as a silent club to kill an unwary Brute from behind, and that opportunity was approaching.

There were two gold armored Brutes standing guard by the only way down which didn't involve him making a huge crash upon landing. He waited, one of the Brutes was drinking something red from what was apparently some kind of canteen… he really didn't want to know what it was, but he could guess. About two minutes passed.

One of the Brutes started to move off, his fellow guard snarled, "Again? That's the fifth time this shift Belzac."

Belzac snarled back, "At least I stay awake Belzor; you were sleeping five seconds ago."

He snuck up behind "Belzor" after the other Brute had moved out of sight. He brought the butt of his shotgun down hard on the joint between the helmet of the Brute, and the torso. It was imperative that the Brute only appear to be asleep. There was the low sound of bone breaking and the Brute slumped back against him. He dragged the heavy body back to the wall and leaned it up against a decorative joint before dashing across the "street" to the shadows on the side of the opening that the other Brute had vanished into.

Belzac walked out into the clear, "Ha, asleep again. And he keeps talking like he was perfect…"

The Brute would never say anything again as he performed the same execution move that he had done to the other guard. He leaned the corpse up against the opposite wall from the other dead body, hopefully the shifts wouldn't switch until he was ready to detonate the nova bomb.

He slid down the stone staircase and began to sprint over the rooftops, sacrificing some stealth in favor of speed, catching a Jackal sniper completely unawares by trampling it before it could utter any sort of cry whatsoever.

He arrived at the bomb site in that manner without killing anything else or alerting any of the Brutes. He set the bomb down, opened the case, and moved to hit the detonator… his finger hovered over the big red button. A thought occurred to him; nova bombs did have a decent failure rate, if this one was a dud and only exploded like a normal bomb… than his death would be a complete waste. He shook his head and set the timer for fifteen minutes. He would die on his own terms in a hail of gunfire, not in a stupid bomb accident. He slid the silencer off of his shotgun and approached a pair of Brutes that were facing away from him. He glanced down at the shotgun in his hands; the moment he pulled the trigger he was practically signing his death certificate. He let out a quiet sigh, his life was forfeit anyway. He smashed the left Brute in the back, killing it instantly. When the other one opened its mouth to roar a warning, he stuck the barrel of his shotgun in the Brute's mouth and blew its head off. A collective roar rose from the entire cavern and a mass of armored apes began to clamber down the cave to kill him. He flipped on the Space Pirate shield on his arm, advertising his presence to the entire Brute army with the bright orange energy screen.

He loaded one round into the shotgun, "Come and get me."

Samus hung onto the roof of the pelican as Alice flew the pelican at dizzying speed towards the cave where John was going to detonate the bomb. Even though if he did detonate it they would both die with the pelican so close… She shook her head; this was her fault to begin with. If she had been thinking clearly…

Alice shouted, "ETA ten seconds!"

All of the Spartans in the hold shouldered rocket launchers and strapped about ten extra rockets to their person. The only one not wielding one of those heavy weapons was Linda, although she had about eighty extra rounds for her rifle taped to her green armor. Wallace and Adolf each had a shotgun, with a Spartan Laser slung over their backs.

Will stood as Alice started to bring the pelican down into the clearing, he spoke over the sound of the pelican's heavy chain gun, "This is essentially a smash and grab, we get in, get John, and get the hell out before the bomb explodes."

The instant Alice set the pelican down Will yelled, "GO, GO, GO!!!"

The entire group sprinted out into the cave mouth. She was only dimly aware that Alice and Douglas had set up shop at the entrance of the cave, securing the escape route.

She sprinted at the head of the group, "Where is he?!?"

Linda replied as they passed a pair of Brute corpses, "At the bottom."

She ran down a stone flight of stairs, "How do you know?"

Wallace answered for the female Spartan, "Two reasons; one, the best place to detonate the bomb. Two, we can hear gunfire."

Kelly broke in, "That's good, either John didn't have the opportunity to set the bomb up or he set it on a timer and is drawing the Brutes down in case the bomb was a dud."

She yelled and ran faster, "Either way, we're on the clock. MOVE!"

Wallace chuckled, "Well, look who's all enthusiastic now."

She started shooting from extreme range, "Shut up Wallace! This is as much your fault as it is mine."

For once, Wallace did not have a snappy comeback.

At the bottom of the cavern, in a large open area, was the largest concentration of Brutes she had ever, and when she though about it, would ever see. Whatever way this turned out, the Brutes were going to die. John was running along the wall, drawing the fire from the entire force. The dual weapons in his hands were supplemented by the Pirate laser he had appropriated on the Acheron. In front of her Spartan, there was a literal sea of corpses that was slowing the Brutes as they charged at John. Those same Brutes were packed together so tight that the rockets that the Spartans on her side of the melee unleashed erased scores of Brutes in one massive blast. Dark Samus climbed to the top of a building and began to fire huge streams of phazon in to the mass below.

She contacted her twin, "I thought you couldn't do that anymore."

Dark Samus replied, "…Shut up…"

Down at the bottom, she saw John momentarily freeze when all of them came into view. John must have been horrified that they were all here.

John froze with despair, the timer on the bomb had just hit ten minutes till detonation and everyone that he even remotely cared for was now present in the cave. To him, it was obvious that they had come for him. But why Samus was at the front of the charge… His survival instincts kicked in. He activated the Pirate shield and began to bull through the Brute lines. Following a path that Dark Samus cleared with one long burst of phazon. Explosions were going off all around him, Brutes were roaring in pain and anger… time seemed to slow down as a hammer wielding chieftain stood right in his path. He kept running. The Brute raised its hammer to crush him, and toppled over after its head exploded. He used the corpse as a vault and sprang over a swath of Brutes, holding the shield beneath him to soak up the explosions from more rockets. The timer hit seven minutes. He landed behind the majority of the remaining Brutes.

The Arbiter waved him forward, "Come Spartan, we have no time to waste."

The other Spartans fired one last volley of rockets and dropped the spent launchers before turning and making a break for the surface. Laser blasts started to rain down from higher up in the cavern. Wallace and another man, probably Adolf, were covering Linda and the retreat at the same time. Ten blasts, ten high ranking Brutes were obliterated. The Lasers were dropped and the two normal humans began their own retreat. Linda took about ten more shots before they drew even with the sniper and she joined the retreat. The countdown hit three minutes.

Ahead of him, Alice and Douglas started to pile into a waiting pelican, the engine already hot and ready to fly. The drop ship actually lifted off of the ground and turned in mid-air to present the hold directly to them. Wallace and Adolf were the first in, followed too quickly to be discerned by his fellow Spartans. He, Dark Samus, the Arbiter, and Samus were the last to get in. The countdown hit one minute, thirty seconds.

Alice pushed the engines well beyond the red line that the designers put in, running the craft on structural tolerance more than anything else. Thirty seconds left. He looked out of the hold, down at the rapidly shrinking planet. Three, two, one… the bomb was definitely not a dud.

Wallace yelled through his vac helmet, "Faster! Else we'll all be fried crispy!"

Alice replied, "You can try pushing if it makes you feel better."

He spoke, "Seal the hold."

The hatch closed… heat began to build…

On the bridge of the Spirit of Fire, Captain Cutter watched with dismay as the expanding fireball from the destruction of the Brute planet enveloped the pelican that held every living hero of humanity.

He almost choked on the words, "Coms, do we have anything from the bird?"

The communications officer replied, "…No sir… nothing."

He turned back to the fireball, "Keep trying."

He removed his hat and held it over his heart, the best he could do.

The entire crew rushed the glass on the side closest to the fireball, "Sir! LOOK!"

He lifted his head, and witnessed possibly the greatest sight in the history of the UNSC. From the fire, like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, emerged the pelican.

The com line lit up, "This is Spartan 130-Alice reporting in, precious cargo is intact and we are coming in now."

The bridge erupted in a cacophony of screams, shouts, and even tears of joy.

He touched his hand to his head in a formal salute, "God speed Chief."

John sat in total silence. Samus right next to him. The tension was so thick he could have cut it with a knife. He had things to say, and he could sense the same from Samus.

Samus began, "I… I wasn't……… I'm sorry John. I wasn't thinking clearly and… none of this would have happened if I…"

He stopped her before she could continue blaming herself, "It's not your fault. I should have told you about it earlier."

He felt a nudge from behind him. Wallace passed him something… it was a ring.

He spoke, "Are you really…?"

Samus nodded, and replied almost shakily, "Yes."

He acted out of instinct, not really knowing how he knew what to do. He dropped down to one knee and manipulated the ring until he was holding it by the band.

He slowly held it up, "...Samus... will you marry me?"

Samus tore her helmet off so he could see her face, there was a tear sliding down her face, "You know the answer to that already. Of course yes."

Wallace spoke up, "I hope you didn't mind me recording that."

He didn't even look at the pirate, "Not this time."

Phase 7: Epilogue

Samus looked at herself in the mirror. Acutely alert for even the slightest strand of hair out of place.

Her twin spoke from behind her, "Nervous?"

She smiled, "It's funny, I've faced down entire fleets of Space Pirate ships without so much as a flicker of anxiety... now I so nervous my heart might explode."

Dark Samus turned her around, "That is to be expected. You weren't getting married."

She shook her head, "Why did you have to turn out so much like me?"

Dark Samus looked offended, "Hey, don't start comparing me to you again. People are just starting to view each of us as a separate entity."

She looked down at the dress she was wearing, practically the only thing she had ever bought with the money she had earned over her bounty career, "And are you really helping that differential right now?"

Dark Samus was wearing a similar dress in electric blue with a pair of long gloves. The gloves were the only reason that she hadn't fallen over in pain from when her twin had just touched her.

Dark Samus shrugged, "It was the stylish thing to do. Besides, isn't a bridesmaid supposed to dress similar to the bride?"

She shook her head at her twin's irrefutable logic, "At least the marriage is in three minutes."

Dark Samus smirked, "Think about it this way, John's probably as nervous as you are right now."

John was standing about two feet away from Captain Cutter, the only person on the entire ship with the authority to perform a marriage.

Cutter asked him, "Nervous?"

He shook his head, "Surprisingly... no."

Cutter looked surprised, "No?"

He nodded, "The only thing bothering me right now is whether or not Wallace is going to behave."

Cutter smiled, "That is something to worry about."

He looked off into the void that was visible through the Spirit of Fire's bridge. The debris from the Brute home planet had mostly shot off into space. All that remained was a few scattered chunks of stone, body parts, and the occasional tree trunk.

The Arbiter, and his "best man" gave him a nudge, "Spartan, it is time."

The bridge door slid open… and every marine present drew in a breath of envy. Wallace began to play the stereotypical wedding tune on, of all things, a bagpipe.

In what seemed like seconds, Samus was right next to him and Cutter had begun to speak, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, to join this man, and this woman. Shining examples both of what humanity can achieve, together. If any among you objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your piece…"

None present said anything.

Cutter nodded and continued, "Very well, by the power vested in me by the UNSC, I now pronounce you man, and wife. Chief, you may kiss the bride."

He looked down at Samus; she smiled and flicked up the customary veil. He leaned in… if he had described their first kiss as an electric current; this one was more like fifty lightning bolts striking at the same exact time.

Adolf shouted, "Present ARMS!!!"

This was a personal touch that had been added to the plan at the insistence of Adolf, his reasoning was that, 'The military is a significant part of both of your lives, besides; the men want to be involved.' He hadn't bothered to object, he actually liked the effect of walking back down the "aisle" under a canopy of battle rifles.

He reminded Samus, "Toss the bouquet."

She nodded, "Right." And hurled the flowers over her shoulder without looking.

Samus asked him, "Should we bother to look?"

He took a moment to gauge the groans of frustration coming from behind him, "…I think you and I both know who caught it."

Despite what he said, he shot a look over his shoulder anyway. Dark Samus had the bouquet and was edging her way closer to Wallace. The pirate gave him a roguish grin and winked suggestively.

He shot a look down at Samus at the same time she looked up at him. A warm smile spilt his pale face. This was going to be the beginning of something wonderful.

Samus commented, "Sensor sweep this time?"

He chuckled and replied, "Intensive."

End

Author's note: This is the LAST chapter of this series. I will not write another one so don't bother asking.


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